REPORT  OF  THE 


VM- 


W\  V  <2^  . 


Cbrietian  Convocation 


IN  COMMEMORATION  OF 

THE  NINETEEN  HUNDREDTH 
BIRTHDAY  -  OF  -  OUR  -  LORD 
AND  SAVIOUR  JESUS  CHRIST 


HELD  IN 

-  The  Gospel  Tabernacle 

NEW  YORK 


. 


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This  is  the  most  charming  volume  we  have 
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of  surpassing  interest,  and  would  easily  stand  alone, 
but  being  included  in  nearly  600  pages  of  descriptive 
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original  illustrations  and  descriptive  matter. — Illus- 
trated  Missionary  News,  I.ondon. 

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very  rapid  journey,  but  there  is  a  charm  about  such  a 
volume  of  letters,  that  would  be  missing  in  a  more 
formal  work.  There  is  little  if  anything  in  the  book 
to  which  the  most  orthodox  or  conservative  Chris¬ 
tian  can  take  exception. — New  York  Observer. 


REPORT  OF  THE 


CHRISTIAN  CONVOCATION 

In  Commemoration  of 


THE  NINETEEN  HUNDREDTH  BIRTHDAY  OF  OUR 
LORD  JESUS  CHRIST 


HKT.D  TN 


I 


THE  GOSPEL  TABERNACLE 

New  York 


DECEMBER  24.  1896.  TO  JANUARY  L  1897 


l^LISHED  BV 

THE  CHRISTIAN  ALLIANCE  PUBLISHING  CO. 
252  West  420  Street,  New  York. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

I 

in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/reportofchristiaOOchri 


REPeRT  or  THE  CeNVOCATieN. 

In  Commemoration  of  the  1900th  Anniversary  of  our  Lord's  Birth. 


December  24.  1896.  to  January  3,  1897. 


THURSDAY,  DEC.  24. 

The  Couvention  commenced  on  Thurs¬ 
day  morning,  December  24,  in  the  Gospel 
Tabernacle,  New  York,  by  a  meeting  for 
prayer  and  humiliation  which  was  led  by 
Dr.  Wilson,  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Tab¬ 
ernacle. 

The  addresses  of  this  Christian  Conven¬ 
tion  began  at  10:30,  and  the  first  speaker 
was  Rev.  Arthur  T.  Pierson,  D.  D.,  who 
read  the  ninth  chapter  of  Daniel  as  an  ap¬ 
propriate  lesson  for  this  season  and  ser¬ 
vice,  referring,  as  it  did,  to  a  particular 
time  and  season  in  the  history  of  God’s 
ancient  people,  and  presenting  to  us  ap¬ 
propriate  lessons  of  humiliation  and  con¬ 
fession  not  only  on  account  of  our  own 
faults  and  sins,  bxit  on  account  of  the  evils 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  and  the  sins  of 
those  around  us.  We  ought  to  be  so  iden¬ 
tified  with  the  body  of  Christ  that  we 
would  carry,  like  our  vicarious  Lord,  the 
burden  of  their  wrong-doing,  and  in  holy 
T)riesthood  bear  it  to  Him  for  forgiveness 
and  cleansing.  Daniel’s  intercession  for 
ids  people  was  followed  by  a  l)lessed  reve¬ 
lation  from  above  and  the  visitation  of  the 
Angel  Gabriel,  who,  being  caused  to  fly 
swiftly,  came  to  him  and  liroiight  him  not 
only  the  answer  to  his  immediate  peti¬ 
tions,  Imt  a  glorious  pro])hetic  message 
covering  all  the  ages  to  come.  He  prayed 
that  God  would  grant  that  as  we  thus 
gathered  in  the  spirit  of  Daniel  the  vision 
might  come  to  ns  also  and  the  Lord  .Jesns 
Himself  l;e  revealed  in  His  living  presence 
and  His  coming  glory.  Dr.  Pierson  then 
referred  especially  to  some  of  tlie  evils  of 
the  individual  life  of  our  time  and,  espe¬ 
cially,  the  selfishness  and  extravagance  of 
so  many  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  the 
waste  of  precious  time  and  the  neglect  of 
the  Word  of  God. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wilson  followed  with  some 
practical  references  to  the  evils  to  be  de¬ 
plored  in  the  family  life  to-day,  and  the 


failure  of  so  many  of  God’s  people  to  rec¬ 
ognize  the  sacredness  of  the  home  and  the 
divine  obligation  of  the  family  ties  which 
Christ  has  so  solemnly  sanctioned. 

Friday,  December  25th,  Christmas  Day, 
was  celebrated  by  a  large  attendance  of 
earnest  friends  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who 
notwithstanding  the  many  engagements 
usual  at  this  season,  came  out  in  goodly 
numbers  to  offer  their  tribute  of  their 
love  at  the  feet  of  His  holy  child,  Jesus. 

THE  EVILS  OF  MODERN  SOCIAL 
LIFE 

By  UEV.  HENUY  WULSON. 

We  are  not  here  to  rail  at  society,  but 
to  try  to  remedy  its  evils. 

1.  Our  national  life  is  wrong.  God  is 
not  recognized  as  the  ruler  of  this  nation. 
We  want  more  than  to  have  the  name  of 
Cod  in  the  Constitution;  we  want  to  really 
j'ceognize  Him  in  our  si)iritual  life  as  a 
people.  It  has  been  })ul)licly  said  that  no 
President  has  been  elected  for  ihirty 
years  without  the  unlawful  use  of  money. 
Our  very  legislators  arc  bought  and  sold. 

2.  The  social  as[)ect  of  things  is  wrong. 
If  the  roofs  of  our  houses  could  l)e  lifted, 
Avhat  scenes  of  shame  would  be  exposed  to 
the  light  of  heaven.  1  have  lived  for  many 
years  in  the  midst  of  what  is  called  fash¬ 
ionable  religious  life,  and  f  know  that 
oven  within  the  limits  of  good  society  and 
luiniau  law,  gilds  arc  bought  and  sold  in 
the  market  of  mari'iage  as  real  as  in  the 
harems  of  Oriental  despots. 

3.  And  wIk'u  we  come  to  the  darki'r 
side  of  things,  how  fearful  ai'o  the  evils  of 
our  social  life  and  the  crimes  of  the  age — 
divorce,  murder,  uncleanness,  and  all  the 
awful  things  which  wax  worse  and  worse 
as  the  age  hastens  to  its  close. 


2 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


PREVAILING  EVILS  IN  THE  MIN¬ 
ISTRY. 

By  REV.  CORNELIUS  WOELi’KIN. 

This  subject  has  been  a  candle  to  search 
man’s  heart.  It  is  a  very  awful  fact  that 
the  holiest  places  and  things  may  be  in¬ 
vaded  by  evil,  and  that  Satan  loves  to 
work  in  Lm*  disguise  of  good.  In  the  Old 
Testament  we  find  the  “  mixed  multitude” 
from  Egypt  doing  more  harm  than  all  the 
enemies  of  Israel,  and  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  the 
leaven  tell  too  sadly  of  the  dangers  of  our 
times 

1.  The  first  evil  in  the  ministry  is  the 
substituting  of  other  things  for  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  Even  in  Paul’s  day  many  were  turn¬ 
ing  aside  from  the  truth  and  becoming 
teachers  of  the  law.  Ritualism,  Formal¬ 
ism,  Rationalism — these  are  taking  the 
place  of  evangelical  truth  in  thousands  of 
pulpits. 

2.  Another  evil  is  false  optimism — a 
rose-colored  view  of  things  not  warranted 
by  the  Scriptures.  Paul  was  very  faithful 
in  telling  Timothy  that  in  the  last  times 
many  would  depart  from  the  faith.  Then, 
he  adds,  “If  thou  put  the  brethren  in  re¬ 
membrance  of  these  things,  thou  shalt  be 
a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ.”  It  is  a 
great  evil  not  to  warn  men  of  the  dangers 
around  them.  We  are  living  in  dark  and 
perilous  times  and  the  man  that  cries 
“  Peace,  peace,”  when  there  is  no  peace 
is  more  obnoxious  to  God  than  the  very 
evils  against  which  he  should  cry  out. 

3.  Another  evil  is  a  wrong  standard  of 
success  in  the  ministry.  There  is  a  strong 
temptation  to  report  large  editions  and 
contributions  of  money  to  adapt  oneself 
to  the  times  we  live  in,  and  please  those 
who  hold  the  keys  of  popidarity  and  in¬ 
fluence.  Christ  preached  so  that  all  His 
hearers  frequently  left  Him.  We  cannot 
hold  down  the  standard  without  unfaith¬ 
fulness.  The  true  minister  must  preach  in 
view  of  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ. 

4.  One  of  the  worst  evils  of  our  days  is 
anecdotism  in  preaching,  the  telling 
of  stories  rather  than  the  exposition  of 
the  revelation  of  God.  It  frequently  de¬ 
grades  the  ministry  into  burlesque.  I  re¬ 
cently  went  to  hear  one  of  the  most  dis¬ 
tinguished  preachers  in  a  certain  denomi¬ 
nation,  on  a  great  public  occasion.  His 


text  was  a  grand  one,  but  in  five  minutes 
he  had  cracked  a  joke  in  the  pulpit  which 
caught  the  ear  of  the  people,  and,  soon 
after,  another,  and  in  less  than  ten  min¬ 
utes  the  whole  spiritual  influence  of  the 
place  was  dissipated,  and  my  wife  and  I 
grew  weary  and  wanted  to  get  away.  I 
heard  him  again  and  he  did  the  same 
thing. 

These  evils  grow  out  of  defects  in  our 
own  personal  life.  If  a  man  knows  how  to 
pray  well  in  his  closet  he  will  pray  well  in 
his  pulpit.  A  critic  once  went  to  hear 
Spurgeon,  but  when  the  good  man  began 
to  pray  the  critic  was  so  convicted  that 
he  got  down  on  his  knees  and  asked  God 
to  forgive  him. 

There  is  nothing  more  injurious  to  min¬ 
isterial  character  and  influence  than  the 
shameful  habit  of  clerical  story  telling  in 
social  gatherings.  The  result  of  these 
evils  is  that  men  are  lulled  to  sleep  and 
we  become  to  our  people  as  the  lovely 
song  of  one  that  can  play  well  upon  an  in¬ 
strument;  but  the  office  of  watchman  and 
shepherd  have  disappeared. 

Beloved  brethren,  the  more  Christ 
blesses  us  in  our  ministry,  the  more  subtle 
will  our  temptations  become  and  the 
more  need  is  there  to  watch  and  pray,  as 
those  that  must  give  account  when  the 
chief  Shepherd  shall  appear. 

♦  #  « 

THINGS  TO  BE  DEPLORED  IN  THE 
MODERN  PULPIT. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

No  man  can  ordain  a  minister.  Mr. 
Spurgeon’s  idea  was,  that  the  act  of  ordi¬ 
nation  was  not  necessary  in  our  day,  but 
was  confined  to  apostolic  times.  He  did 
not  ordain  his  preachers  because  he  feared 
that  it  might  give  the  impression  that 
some  grace  was  transmitted  by  the  hands 
of  the  bishop.  Undoubtedly,  he  went  too 
far,  but  he  was  correct  in  the  principle 
that  none  but  the  Holy  Ghost  can  really 
set  a  man  apart  for  the  ministry.  Ordi¬ 
nation  is  really  man  recognizing  what  God 
has  already  done.  “  When  they  saw  the 
grace  of  God  they  gave  unto  them  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship.” 

There  are  four  terms  ascribed  to  the 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


3 


Christian  Ministry  in  Paul’s  remarkable 
address  to  the  elders  of  Ephesus. 

The  first  is  the  word  “  minister,”  which 
represents  the  idea  of  service. 

The  second  is  the  word  “  witness.”  A 
witness  tells  of  what  he  knows.  The 
greatest  part  of  a  sermon  is  the  man  be¬ 
hind  it. 

The  third  term  used  is  the  word 
“  preacher.”  The  preacher  is  the  herald 
and  represents  a  king.  He  delivers  a  mes¬ 
sage  from  heaven.  He  stands  in  the  name 
of  another  being  and  comes  with  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  King  of  Kings.  I  remem¬ 
ber  when  I  once  resided  in  Detroit  that 
we  used  to  see  the  soldiers  of  Great  Brit¬ 
ain  in  their  red  uniforms,  as  they  came 
over  the  river  from  Canada  and  walked 
through  our  city.  I  thought  that  is  just 
like  the  Christian  embassador;  he  is  in  a 
strange  country,  clothed  in  the  uniform  of 
another  king. 

The  fourth  name  is  “  overseer.”  It  sug¬ 
gests  the  flock,  of  which  He  is  the  Shep¬ 
herd,  lovingly  and  tenderly  feeding  them 
and  guarding  them. 

Errors  in  the  pulpit  to-day  arise  from 
misunderstanding  these  four  ideas  of  the 
Christian  ministry. 

In  the  first  place  service  is  misunder¬ 
stood.  The  ambition  of  the  minister 
should  be  to  be  an  example  of  humility, 
and  to  eclipse  all  others  in  meekness,  low¬ 
liness  and  self-forgetting  love.  Christ’s 
direction  to  all  that  would  be  chief,  is  to 
aim  to  be  the  servant  of  all.  There  is  a 
certain  thrill  in  personal  experience;  men 
comprehend  it  and  instinctively  realize 
that  the  speaker  knows  what  he  is  talking 
about.  The  man  becomes  the  interpreter 
of  his  message.  The  glass  through  which 
the  light  comes  has  God’s  color  to  it. 
Alas,  how  many  ministers  are  stained 
glass  windows  and  they  give  a  lurid  glare 
to  their  very  message. 

This  subject  has  searched  my  own 
heart.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  in  the  theo¬ 
logical  seminary  we  never  heard  very 
much  true  preaching.  Wo  were  drilled  in 
the  analysis  and  illustration  of  texts,  but 
preaching  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  one  of  the  things  which  God  alone  can 
teach. 

Among  the  errors  of  our  day  are: 

1.  Preaching  error  instead  of  truth. 
Many  ministers  get  their  messages  from 


other  sources  than  the  Word  of  God.  They 
preach  books,  rather  than  the  Book.  The 
only  safe  rule  is  to  give  our  people  noth¬ 
ing  but  what  we  find  in  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
tures. 

2.  Another  error  consists  in  preaching 
truth,  but  not  fundamental  truth.  One 
may  preach  a  great  many  things  that  are 
in  the  Bible  and  yet  leave  out  the  only 
truth  that  can  save  men.  When  Spur¬ 
geon  was  a  young  man  he  went  around  to 
all  the  chapels  in  Colchester,  seeking  in 
vain  for  something  that  could  satisfy  his 
soul,  and  he  found  nothing  at  all.  He 
went  into  an  humble  chapel  where  a  man 
looked  him  in  the  face  and  said,  “  Look, 
look,  look  and  live.”  Spurgeon  was  saved, 
and  for  forty  years  he  never  preached  a 
sermon  in  which  he  did  not  show  his 
hearers,  in  some  way,  how  to  find  Christ. 

3.  Many  preach  even  fundamental 
truths  without  a  deep  spiritual  experience 
back  of  it.  It  is  no  use  for  a  man  to 
teach  sanctification  unless  he  is  living  it. 

4.  The  worst  of  all  errors  is  to  attempt 
to  preach  without  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  A  prominent  professor  of  theol¬ 
ogy  has  recently  stated  publicly,  that  he 
doubts  whether  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
Holy  Gho.st  power  in  our  days.  It  was 
recently  stated  in  the  papers  tliat  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  an  ecclesiastical  court  had  objected 
to  sustaining  the  call  a  church  had  given 
to  a  minister  of  great  distinction  because 
this  man  held  the  “  Moody  notion  of  Holy 
Ghost  power.” 

All  these  errors  are  around  us.  I  speak 
to  myself  as  much  as  to  my  brethren. 
How  we  need  to  pray  for  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  make  us  faithful! 

#  # 

GLOW  IN  GRACB. 

By  RRV.  J.  II.  GUAY,  of  Boston. 

A  certain  colporteur  never  approached 
strangers  without  asking:  “  Are  you  a 
Christian  f”  Every  nine  .out  of  ten  would 
answer  “  Yes;  of  course  I  am  a  Christian 
because  I  am  not  a  heathen.”  Christians 
because  they  were  brought  up  in  the 
church,  Christiana  because  they  attended 
Sunday  school,  Christians  because  they 
read  their  Bibles.  He  approacbed  a 


4 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


stranger  with  tliis  inquiry:  "My  friend, 
have  you  been  born  again  That  went 
right  to  the  heart  of  the  subject.  That 
was  a  question  which  could  not  easily  be 
dodged,  a  question  which  the  stranger 
could  not  get  around  very  easily.  My 
hearers,  that  is  the  lirst  question  1  want  to 
put  to  you  to-night.  Have  you  been  horn 
again?  God  forbid  that  anybody  in  this 
room  should  live  another  hour,  another 
moment,  without  having  that  question  an¬ 
swered  satisfactorily  in  the  light  of  God's 
word  and  in  the  light  of  the  experience 
of  their  own  soul.  Through  faith  in  His 
precious  blood  come  into  a  state  of  grace 
that  ye  may  grow.  If  we  are  in  the  state 
of  grace  that  question  is  settled. 

The  second  thought  is  a  question  just 
as  necessary.  We  are  expected  now  to 
"  grow  in  grace.'’  It  is  an  obligation 
which  the  divine  Spirit  lays  upon  us.  It 
is  not  something  that  we  may  or  may  not 
do  as  we  please,  but  it  is  a  command  wdiich 
we  must  do — “  grow  in  grace.”  Let 
us  look  at  a  child  for  a  figure. 
The  child  is  expected  to  grow  phys¬ 
ically  first  for  his  own  sake  that 
he  may  enter  into  the  responsibilities  of 
youthhood  and  manhood.  He  is  expected 
to  grow  not  only  for  his  owm  sake  but  for 
his  parents’  sake,  that  they  may  have  the 
joy  of  seeing  him  enter  manliood.  Then 
he  is  expected  to  grow  for  the  world’s  sake 
that  he  may  take  his  place  there  and  be 
of  u.e  to  the  world.  How,  we  are  expected 
to  grow  as  Christians  first,  for  our  own 
sake  in  order  to  apprehend  that  for  which 
we  have  been  apprehended  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

We  need  to  grow  for  our  heavenly  Fath¬ 
er's  sake  that  we  may  show  forth  the 
praises  of  Him  who  hath  called  us  out  of 
the  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light. 

Then,  dear  brother,  we  v'ant  to  grow 
for  the  world’s  sake.  In  Him  we  shine  as 
lights  in  the  world,  as  it  is  written,  hold¬ 
ing  forth  the  light  in  the  midst  of  a 
crooked  and  perverse  generation.  How 
much  the  world  needs  us  to  grow  in  grace 
that  our  lights,  may  shine  before  us  and 
that  the  world  may  be  turned  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  through  our  light  and  testi¬ 
mony. 

If  God  has  called  upon  us  to  grow  in 
grace  then  certainly  as  our  Heavenly 
Father  He  must  have  provided  some 


means  by  which  we  may  fulfill  the  obliga¬ 
tion  "  grow  in  grace.”  Has  He  done  sof 
What  are  the  prerequisite  essentials  to 
grow  in  the  physical  sense?  First,  nour¬ 
ishment;  second,  air;  third,  exercise.  Ho 
child  can  grow  physically  except  as  he  re¬ 
ceives  nourishment  from  the  milk  pro¬ 
vided.  Is  it  not  remarkable,  to  say  the 
least,  that  He  should  have  brought  the 
same  truth  before  us  and  exhorted  us  thus 
“  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word  that 
ye  may  be  able  to  grow  thereby  ”  ?  What 
is  one  of  the  reasons  why  Christians  do 
not  grow  in  grace?  Because  we  are  not 
reading  the  Word  of  God;  not  assimilating 
or  digesting  the  food  which  God  has  pro¬ 
vided  for  us.  We  read  newspapers  and 
grow  in  polities. 

A  child  needs  air,  good  air,  fresh  air 
and  plenty  of  air,  if  he  is  to  grow.  What 
is  analagous  to  that?  The  Holy  Ghost 
Himself.  We  recall  those  words  of  Paul 
in  Acts  xix.,  where  he  says:  “  Have  ye  re¬ 
ceived  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed?” 
It  is  one  thing  to  receive  the  Holy  Ghost 
when  we  believe,  and  let  us  praise  the 
name  of  God  that  when  the  Holy  Ghost 
comes  to  us  He  comes  to  abide  forever, 
but  is  it  not  another  thing  to  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost  after  we  believe,  the  baptism 
or  the  gift,  whatever  name  you  choose  to 
give  it,  that  will  lift  3-011  up  on  a  higher 
spiritual  plane  of  living  and  help  you  to 
please  God?  So  many  of  us  are  not  living 
in  the  atmosphere  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
but  in  the  tainted  putrid  atmosphere  of 
the  world.  Ho  wonder  we  are  not  grow¬ 
ing  in  grace. 

The  child  needs  exercise.  He  must  use 
his  voice  to  exercise  his  lungs.  He  must 
pull  and  walk  and  leap  and  run  in  order 
to  grow.  Another  reason  why  so  man}-  of 
us  are  not  growing  in  grace  is  because  we 
are  not  exercising  ourselves  for  Jesus 
Christ. 

Let  us  take  the  nourishment  He  pro¬ 
vides,  breath 'i  the  air  He  gives  us  in  His 
own  Spirit  and  engage  in  the  exercise  set 
before  us  in  the  gospel  of  His  Son.  God 
has  not  onl}^  commanded  us  to  grow  in 
grace  and  given  us  the  means  by  which  to 
grow,  but  has  also  given  us  the  lines  along 
which  growth  should  be  expected  to  take 
place.  In  the  first  epistle  of  Peter,  Peter 
is  speaking  to  Christians  already  in  the 
state  of  grace,  partakers  of  the  divine  na- 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


5 


tiire  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ:  “  Be¬ 
sides  all  this  add  to  your  faith  virtue.” 
Don’t  be  misled  by  the  word  add,  as  if 
faith  were  not  sufficient  for  our  salvation 
or  sanetitication,  but  the  idea  seems  to  be 
the  faith  necessary  to  the  growth  of 
Christians,  and  it  must  be  that  faith 
which  includes  virtue.  Virtue  does  not 
mean  morality,  but  courage.  I  tell  you  if 
we  are  growing  in  grace  we  are  men  and 
women  having  the  courage  of  our  convic¬ 
tions.  If  we  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  we 
will  confess  Jesus  Christ  before  men  in 
our  homes,  at  our  business  and  social 
circles. 

Add  to  your  faith  virtue,  and  to  virtue 
knowledge.  Not  knowledge  of  material 
things,  but  knowledge  of  God,  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  Word  of  God,  knowledge  of 
the  will  of  God,  in  order  that  w'e  may  be¬ 
lieve  the  Word  and  act  upon  His  will.  Add 
to  knowledge  temperance,  not  only  in 
total  abstinence  in  drink,  but  moderation 
in  all  things,  self-control  over  these  bod¬ 
ies  of  ours,  self-control  over  every  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  body,  self-control  over  every 
part  of  the  body,  self-control  over  the  ear, 
etc.,  etc. 

Add  to  temperance  patience,  forbear¬ 
ance  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  Sa¬ 
tan,  of  the  world,  in  the  face  of  our  trials 
and  temptations  God  sees  fit  to  place  upon 
us. 

Add  to  patience  godliness,  God-ward- 
ness,  as  Moses,  who  endured  all  these 
things  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible. 

Then  add  brotherly  kindness,  kindness 
to  those  not  only  in  the  flesh,  but  your 
family,  your  household,  your  noigiibor 
and  especially  those  of  the  household  of 
faith. 

Then  add  love.  Love — this  takes  in  the 
whole  world — love  which  will  enable  us 
to  bless  our  enemies,  the  love  which  will 
enable  us  to  follow  Him  who  came  to  seek 
and  save  the  lost  and  ins])ire  us  to  keep 
His  command,  ''As  the  Father  bath  sent 
Me,  even  so  I  send  you.”  Oh!  for  this 
love  and  this  compassion  for  the  lost 
world. 

Well  may  we  say,  as  we  go  over  these 
things,  this  is  too  much  for  me,  too  much 
for  me.  fl’hese  three  words,  “  irrow  in 
grace  are  three  mighty  words.  They 
bring  us  face  to  face  with  the  (|uestion  of 
order.  We  are  in  the  state  of  grace,  then 


comes  the  command  to  grow  in  grace. 
Then  conies  the  means  by  which  we  may 
grow  in  grace,  and  then  the  lines  along 
wdiich  the  growth  is  to  come.  1  want  to 
tell  you  the  secret.  I  want  to  say  to  you 
in  all  honesty,  in  all  seriousness,  in  all 
earnestness  and  alfection,  that  you  and  I 
can  do  it  if  we  want  to  do  it,  for  we  can 
“  do  all  things  through  Christ  which 
strengtheneth”  us.  There  was  a  time 
when  I  could  not  say  that.  There  was  a 
time  when  I  would  not  say  that.  There 
was  a  time  when  I  felt  I  must  continue  to 
be  a  debtor  to  the  flesh  as  long  as  I  was  in 
the  flesh.  I  saw  this  truth,  ‘‘If  the  Spirit 
of  Him  who  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead 
dwell  in  you.  He  that  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your 
mortal  bodies  by  His  Spirit  that  dwelleth 
in  you.”  I  have  come  to  see  that  Christ 
can  so  live  His  power  in  me  that  I  can 
know  day  by  day  that  I  am  set  free  from 
the  law  of  (leatli  by  the  law  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ. 

Dr.  Webb  Pebloe  had  been  talking 
somewhat  one  day  along  this  line.  A 
lady  came  up  and  thanked  him  for  it,  and 
said  it  had  done  her  a  great  deal  of  good. 
“  I  am  glad  to  know  it,”  he  said,  “  I  may 
take  it  for  granted  you  have  entered  into 
this  life.”  She  said,  “  No,  it  is  not  true  of 
me,  [  am  sorry  to  say.  1  am  a  Christian; 
my  sins  have  been  washed  away  by  the 
blood  of  Christ;  His  Holy  S])irit  dwells 
within  me,  hut  I  have  not  entered  into 
that  cx|)erience  because  of  my  ciicum- 
stances.”  “  Is  not  God  sti’ong('r  (ban  your 
circumstances?”  “  Hut  my  eireumslauccs 
are  peculiar  circumstances.”  “  Hut  is  not 
God  stronger  than  your  peculiai-  eii'cum- 
stances?”  “Well,”  she  said,  “I  can’t 
quite  c,X])lain,  but  mine  arc  very  ])eciiliar 
circumstances.”  “  Is  not  God  stronger,” 
bo  asked,  “than  your  very  jieculiar  eir- 
cuTustances?”  Again,  she  answered, 
“Mine  arc  very,  vc'ry  peculiar  circum¬ 
stances.”  Then  be  said,  “  Von  had  better 
go  and  tell  God  so.  Tell  Him  that  Ho 
cannot  (h'liver  nor  help  you.  Why  not 
say,  ‘  1  thank  d'bee  for  Jesus  Christ,  I 
thank  H'lu'c  that  He  has  taken  away  my 
sins  and  f  long  to  entesr  into  this  dec])cr 
life,  but,  my  God,  '^riioii  knowost  that 
Thou  hast  not  the  ])ower  to  do  this  be¬ 
cause  of  the  very,  very  peculiar  eireum- 
stances  of  rny  life?’  ”  She  said,  “  I  t  hink 


6 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


that  would  he  hlasphemy.’^  “  So  I  think,” 
he  said.  “  You  have  been  saying  that  in 
your  heart.  Suppose  you  say,  ‘  Oh,  my 
God,  I  thank  Thee  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a 
very,  very  peculiar  Saviour  to  meet  the 
very,  very  peculiar  need  of  a  very,  verj 
peculiar  sinner  and  to  give  victory  to  her 
very,  very  peculiar  soul  in  all  the  very, 
very  peculiar  circumstances  of  her  very, 
very  peculiar  life.’”  “Is  that  all?”  she 
asked.  “  Well,  I  can  say  that.” 

I  believe  if  she  said  it  in  earnestness 
and  meekness  and  faith  that  God  received 
her  and  showed  her  He  was  able  to  do  for 
her  abundantly  more  than  she  was  able. 
How  is  it  with  you? 

For  twelve  years  a  man  had  been  work¬ 
ing  in  the  gospel  ministry  in  Albany  suc¬ 
cessfully.  But  there  came  a  day  in  his  ex¬ 
perience  when  he  felt  all  was  not  right, 
when  he  felt  God  had  more  for  him  than 
he  had  received  and  yet  he  realized  that 
he  was  not  able  to  pay  the  cost.  Just  at 
that  time  his  eye  fell  on  a  report  of  a  ser¬ 
mon  of  P.  B.  Meyer,  “  Are  You  Willing  to 
Be  Made  Willing  f”  That  fits  my  case  ex¬ 
actly.  Yes;  I  am  willing  to  he  made  will¬ 
ing.  Then  and  there  he  entered  into  a 
contract  with  God  that  made  him  the 
spiritual  power  that  he  is  to-day. 

How  many  of  us  are  willing  at  least  to 
he  made  willing f 

#  *  ^ 

FRIDAY,  DEC.  25. 

CHRIST  IN  OLD  TESTAMENT 
PROPHECY. 

By  REV.  J.  H.  GRAY,  of  Boston. 

In  the  earlier  promises  of  the  Book  of 
Genesis  we  find  the  coming  Deliverer  an¬ 
nounced  in  the  same  general  way,  as  the 
seed  of  the  woman  who  should  bruise  the 
serpent’s  head.  We  find,  next,  that  He 
was  to  be  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  yet 
more  definitely  the  seed  of  Isaac,  until, 
finally,  He  becomes  the  seed  of  Jacob  and 
the  offspring  of  Judah. 

As  we  pass  through  the  Old  Testament, 
we  come  to  the  prophecies  of  Moses,  and 
here  we  see  the  vision  of  a  prophet  who 
was  to  be  like  unto  Him,  and  whom  His 
brethren  were  to  hear  and  obey. 


At  length,  we  reach  the  prophecies  that 
cluster  around  the  life  and  reign  of  David. 
God  gave  to  him  also  a  promise  of  a  seed 
and  a  house.  Of  course,  this  was  fulfilled 
immediately  in  the  birth  and  reign  of  Sol¬ 
omon;  but  it  is  evident  that  a  greater  than 
Solomon  was  meant,  for  God  promised, 
concerning  this  coming  One,  “  I  will  be 
His  I'ather  and  He  shall  be  My  Son.” 
Now,  this  high  type,  the  Apostle  says  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  could  not  be 
given  to  any  created  being.  To  which  of 
the  angels  said  He  at  any  time,  thou  are 
My  Son?”  It  must  refer  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  But  some  say,  how  could  this 
promise  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  II. 
Samuel  refer  to  Christ,  when  we  read  in 
the  fourteenth  verse  such  words  as  these: 
“  If  He  commit  iniquity,  I  will  chasten 
Him  with  the  rod  of  men,  and  with  the 
stripes  of  the  children  of  men:  but  My 
mercy  shall  not  depart  from  Him.”  But 
if  we  turn  to  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
original,  as  Bishop  Horsley  translates  it, 
we  shall  find  that  it  is  rendered  thus: 
“  When  iniquity  is  laid  upon  Him,  I  will 
chasten  Him  with  the  rod  of  men,  and 
with  the  stripes  of  the  children  of  men.” 
How  marvellously  this  becomes  a  literal 
prediction  of  the  very  sufferings  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  sinful  men;  for  al¬ 
most  in  the  same  language,  the  prophet 
Isaiah  says  of  Him,  “  By  His  stripes  we 
are  healed.”  And,  again,  “The  Lord  hath 
laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all.”  Adam 
Clark  translates  this  passage,  “In  His  suf¬ 
ferings  for  iniquity,  I  will  chasten  Him 
with  the  rod  of  man.”  There  is  no  doubt 
that  David  understood  this  as  a  prophecy 
and  promise  of  his  coming  Lord,  for  we 
read  in  the  eighteenth  verse,  “Then  David 
went  in,  and  sat  before  the  Lord,  and  he 
said.  Who  am  I,  O.  Lord  God?  and  what  is 
my  house,  that  Thou  hast  brought  me 
hitherto?  And  this  was  yet  a  small  thing 
in  Thy  sight,  0,  Lord  God;  but  Thou 
hast  spoken  also  of  Thy  servant’s  house 
for  a  great  while  to  come.  And  is  this  the 
manner  of  man,  0,  Lord  God?”  Again, 
Bishop  Horsley  translates  this  last  verse 
in  the  following  striking  manner:  “  Thou 
hast  regarded  me  in  reference  to  that  klan 
that  is  to  be  from  above,”  or  the  Adam 
from  above. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  David  saw,  by 
faith,  the  coming  of  the  great  Redeemer; 
for  in  the  thirty-second  Psalm,  which  was 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


written  after  his  great  sin  with  Bathshe- 
ba,  we  find  David  speaking  of  the  “bless¬ 
edness  of  the  Man  unto  whom  the  Lord 
imputeth  not  iniquity”^;  and  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Komans,  Paul  applies  this  very 
psalm,  and  the  exjierience  of  David,  to  il¬ 
lustrate  the  doctrine  of  Christ’s  imputed 
righteousness,  and  our  justification  by 
faith  in  Him,  and  tells  us  implicitly,  that 
this  way  of  salvation  was  witnessed  by  the 
law  of  prophets,  and  citing  David  as  the 
very  example  of  this  faith  under  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation. 

Again,  in  the  second  chapter  of  Acts, 
thirtieth  and  thirty-first  verses,  the  Apos¬ 
tle  Peter,  speaking  of  the  sixteenth  Psalm, 
distinctly  says  that  David,  seeing  before 
the  resurrection  of  Christ,  saw  Him  as  his 
Lord.  And  so  David  really  saw  the  Christ 
that  we  see,  and  was  saved  by  the  same 
faith  which  unites  to  Christ.  And,  there¬ 
fore,  we  find  him  continuing  his  thanks¬ 
giving  to  God  and  responding  to  the 
promise  in  the  .blessed  amen  of  faith. 
“  And,  now,  0,  Lord  God,  the  word  that 
Thou  hast  spoken  concerning  Thy  ser¬ 
vant,  and  concerning  his  house,  establish 
it  forever,  and  do  as  Thou  hast  said.” 

This  is  the  true  spirit  of  faith;  it  amens 
God;  it  takes  the  promise  and  sends  it 
back  to  heaven  as  an  echo  of  faith.  It 
says,  like  Mary  when  she  received  the  an¬ 
gel’s  promise,  “  Behold  the  handmaid  of 
the  Lord;  be  it  unto  me  according  to  Thy 
word.” 

i%  # 

CHBIST  IN  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT 
PBOPHECY. 

Ry  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

It  is  very  difficult  for  us  to  put  our¬ 
selves  in  the  place  of  Old  Testament 
saints.  After  the  problem  is  solved,  it 
seems  to  us  very  easy,  and  we  can  scarce¬ 
ly  realize  how  hard  it  seemed  before  it 
had  been  made  real. 

In  John  viii.  5G  our  Lord  says  that 
Abraham  “  rejoiced  to  see  His  day;”  and 
then  apparently  repeating  that.  He  adds, 
“  He  saw  it  and  was  glad.”  Literally,  the 
passage  might  he  translated,  “  Your  Fath¬ 
er  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day,  and 
he  saw  and  was  glad.”  Hero  we  have  two 
experiences  in  the  life  of  Abraham.  The 


first  must  have  been  the  incident  recorded 
in  Gen.  xviii.,  when  God  visited  Abraham 
and  gave  him  the  promise  of  the  seed  that 
should  come  from  his  own  wife  and  his 
own  loins.  So  improbable  did  the  prom¬ 
ise  seem,  Sarah  laughed  in  unbelief  when 
she  heard  of  it;  but  the  day  came  when 
the  laugh  of  doubt  was  changed  into  the 
laughter  of  joy  and  the  very  name  of 
Isaac  means  “  laughter  ”  or  “  gladness,” 
and  as  he  came  into  their  arms,  Abraham 
saw  in  him  the  tjqie  and  prophecy  of  his 
coming  Eedeemer  and  greater  seed.  It 
was  thus  that  he  rejoiced  to  see  Christ’s 
day. 

But  now  we  come  to  another  scene-  on 
Mount  Moriah,  where  that  child  of  prom¬ 
ise  is  laid  upon  the  altar  before  the  Lord 
and  then  given  back  as  from  the  dead, 
while  in  the  thicket  the  substitute  is  wait¬ 
ing  to  take  his  place;  and  Abraham  be¬ 
holds  a  greater  vision  and  sees  the  glo¬ 
rious  meaning  of  redemption  through 
death  and  resurrection.  This  is  the  sec¬ 
ond  chapter  of  his  faith.  It  was  then  that 
“he  saw,  and  was  glad.”  So,  in  Isaac’s 
death,  Abraham  saw  the  incarnation  of 
Christ,  but  in  Isaac’s  offering  he  saw  the 
vicarious  death  and  the  glorious  resurrec¬ 
tion  of  his  illustrious  seed;  and  the  Apos¬ 
tle  tells  us  that,  by  the  same  faith  which 
justifies  us,  Abraham,  too,  believed  and 
received  his  salvation. 

In  II.  Cor.  iii.  18  we  have  this  strong 
glory  of  the  Lord  wo  are  changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
by  the  Lord’s  Spirit.”  The  mirror  is  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  image  is  Christ.  The 
word  for  “  beholding  ”  expresses  a  steady, 
fixed  gaze,  and  thus  they  gazed  until  they 
dimly  saw  the  coming  glory.  So  should 
we  gaze  with  fixed  vision,  and  we,  too, 
shall  see  and  be  transformed. 

The  mirror  into  which  they  gazed  was 
an  imperfect  one.  There  is  a  seven-fold 
mirror  of  truth.  1.  Direct  Messianic 
prophecy.  2.  The  ceremonies  and  sac¬ 
raments  of  the  Did  T'estament.  3.  The 
historical  types  of  Christ  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament.  4.  The  didactic  teachings  con¬ 
tained  in  the  Old  Testament  and  ])resent- 
ing  the  truth  about  the  coming  Messiah, 
more  or  less  clearly.  They  had  these 
four  mirrors  in  which  to  see  the  glory  of 
the  liord.  We  have  three  more,  namely, 
the  evangelical  mirror,  consisting  of  the 


8 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


four  gospels;  the  autobiographical  mirror, 
containing  the  personal  works  of  Christ; 
the  apostolic  mirror,  containing  the  epis¬ 
tles  and  the  Apocalypse.  They  had  the 
light  of  Old  Testament  truth  and  proph¬ 
ecy.  There  were  direct  predictions,  such 
as,  Gen.  iii.  and  Is.  liii.;  but  there  were  in¬ 
direct  prophecies  also,  such  as  Psalms  xxii. 
and  cx.  These  were  also  pictures  of  Christ 
which  they  more  or  less  fully  compre¬ 
hended.  The  twenty-second  psalm  is  a 
broken  drama  of  the  suffering  Christ, 
which  is  called  “  the  psalm  of  sobs.” 
There  is  not  a  complete  sentence  in  it. 
It  is  just  a  section  of  ejaculations  of  an¬ 
guish,  but  it  is  full  of  the  accents  of  Cal¬ 
vary. 

So,  also,  the  symbols  of  the  Passover, 
the  Paschal  Lamb  roasted  on  a  cross  made 
of  two  splits,  the  brazen  serpent  in  the 
wilderness  on  a  pole  formed  like  a  cross, 
the  day  of  atonement,  with  two  goats  rep¬ 
resenting  the  two  sides  of  Christ’s  death — 
all  this  was  full  of  the  story  of  Jesus. 
Then  the  story  of  Joseph  is  one  long  type 
of  the  One  who  was  despised  and  rejected 
of  men.  Moses  and  Joshua  represented 
the  two  sides  of  law  and  gospel.  Elijah 
and  Elisha  stand  in  like  manner  for  the 
Old  and  the  Mew  Testament  spirit.  The 
key  to  all  was  Christ;  and  now,  as  we  gaze 
upon  that  seven-fold  mirror  which  is 
given  to  us  in  all  its  completeness,  its  very 
light  is  reflected  back  in  our  faces  and  we 
become  the  living  photographs  of  Him  on 
whom  we  gaze. 

AAA 

THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  IMCAEMA- 
TIOM. 

By  REV.  DR.  LOAVE. 

The  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
made  all  things  new. 

1.  It  brought  a  new  presentation  of 
God.  Men  had  thought  of  Him  as  a  law¬ 
giver;  now,  they  ivere  to  know  Him  as  a 
Father — a  God  of  mercy,  of  long-suffer¬ 
ing  love,  willing  to  endure  reproach  and 
suffer  wrong,  and  shoAiung  His  character 
in  the  life  and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  “  He  that  hath  seen  Me,”  He 
saith,  “  hath  seen  the  Father.” 

2.  A  neiv  way  of  access  to  God.  No 
man  who  is  conscious  of  his  sinful  condi¬ 


tion  can  stand  and  look  into  the  face  of 
God  without  a  sense  of  fear  of  the  Old 
Testament.  We  are  told  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  that  man  had  a  conscious¬ 
ness  of  sin,  but  now  through  thi.  atone¬ 
ment  of  Christ  the  justified  man  is  deliv¬ 
ered,  not  only  from  the  curse  but  from  its 
very  shadow,  and  he  stands  accepted  in 
the  Father’s  love  even  as  Christ  Himself. 

3.  A  neiv  person  for  men  to  love.  The 
incarnation  has  given  us  Christ,  “  whom 
not  having  seen,  we  love.”  Christ  came, 
not  only  to  bring  us  truth,  hut,  above  all, 
to  bring  us  love.  The  human  heart  wants 
some  one  on  whom  to  lavish  its  affections. 
To  love  a  noble  and  lovable  being  exalts; 
and  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
most  ennobling  influence  in  a  human  life. 
God  has  put  His  Holy  Babe  into  our  arms 
that  we  may  love  Him  and  live  for  Him. 

4.  A  new  power  in  human  life.  What 
is  the  difference  between  good  now  and 
before  Jesus  Christ  came?  It  is  this:  that 
we  have  not  only  the  law  of  righteousness 
and  the  examples  of  righteousness,  but 
we  have  the  power  of  a  Living  Person 
within  us  to  make  us  righteous.  Human 
nature  is  linked  ivith  the  Man  in  the 
glory.  Eighteousness  is  not  ethical  cul¬ 
ture  but  the  union  of  God  with  the 
human  soul.  You  may  give  men  instruc¬ 
tion,  but  they  won’t  obey  it;  you  may  give 
them  the  lash  but  that  won’t  make  them 
take  it.  Christ  comes  both  to  will  and  to 
do  in  us  after  God’s  good  pleasure. 

5.  A  new  vieiv  of  humanity  and  ser¬ 
vice.  You  have  read  the  story  of  sister 
Dora  and  the  motto  of  her  life.  Whenever 
any  message  came  requiring  sacrifice,  ser¬ 
vice  or  love,  this  little  verse  met  every 
difficulty  and  settled  every  question;  ‘‘The 
Master  has  come  and  calleth  for  thee.” 
And  so  Jesus  Christ  has  set  us  the  stand¬ 
ard  of  a  life  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  man,  and  He 
is  calling  through  the  ages  to  every  true 
heart,  “  Follow  Me.” 

4*  ^ 

The  evening  service  was  largely  at¬ 
tended  and  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Studd 
and  Dr.  Pierson.  In  the  course  of  his  ad¬ 
dress  Dr.  Pierson  took  occasion  to  explain 
the  grounds  on  account  of  which  we  cele¬ 
brate  at  this  time  the  Nineteen  Hun- 


CHUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


9 


dredtli  Birthday  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  fol¬ 
lows: 

“  If  the  best  chronology  is  taken  as  our 
standard,  this  year  is  not  1896,  but  1900, 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  marks  the  clos¬ 
ing  year  of  the  century.  It  is  well  known 
among  students  of  chronology  that  the 
familiar  letters,  ‘‘A.  D.,”  do  not  originally 
stand  for  Anno  Domini,  but  for  Aera  Di- 
onysii,  the  era  of  Dionysius,  surnamed  Ex- 
iguus  the  Little,  from  his  small  stature. 
This  Boman  abbot,  originally  from  Scy¬ 
thia,  who  died  in  his  monastery  in  .540 
A.  I).,  was  a  man  of  great  erudition  and, 
among  other  labors,  carried  on  in  chro¬ 
nology  researches  which  gave  him  great 
celebrity.  To  this  man,  who  died  in  the 
reign  of  Justinian,  is  traced  the  method 
of  reckoning  the  Christian  era  which, 
since  the  eighth  century,  has  been,  by  so- 
called  Christian  nations,  universally 
adopted,  and  which  fixes  the  year  of  the 
Incarnation  at  the  753d  year  of  Rome. 

klore  careful  computations,  reckoning 
from  at  least  six  different  points  of  obser¬ 
vation,  like  converging  paths,  all  lead  to 
one  conclusion,  that  an  error  of  at  least 
four  years  has  occurred  in  the  Dionysian 
era,  and  that  the  Incarnation  must  date 
back  to  the  year  749  from  the  founding 
of  Rome,  which  would,  according  to  the 
current  reckoning,  be  4  B.  C. 

“For  example,  as  the  birth  of  Christ 
was  certainly  previous  to  the  death  of 
Herod  the  Great,  which  was  just  before 
the  Passover,  in  the  year  750  A.  U.,  the 
year  of  the  nativity  cannot  have  been  later 
than  749  A.  IT. 

“Again,  John  the  Baptist  entered  on 
his  ministry  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tibe¬ 
rius,  wliich,  reckoning  from  the  latter’s 
co-regency,  would  put  the  Baptist’s  birth 
in  the  year  748  A.  IT.,  or  early  in  the  next 
year;  and,  as  there  were  hut,  six  months 
difference  in  the  ages  of  Christ  and  of  His 
forerunner,  our  Lord’s  birth  V'ould  occur 
not  later  tlian  749  A.  TT. 

“Yet,  again,  our  Lord  Himself  said: 
forty  and  six  years  was  this  temple  in 
building;’  and  the  eighteenth  year  of 
Herod’s  reign,  when  he  began  tlie  rebuild¬ 
ing,  would  coincide  with  7.32  A.  IT.  This 
would  make  the  forty-six  years  end  some¬ 
where  about  778  or' 779  A.  TT.  If  our 
TiOrd  was  then  about  thirty  years  old,  His 
birth  year  would  carry  us  back  to  749  A. 
IT.  Other  confirmatory  testimony,  as 


collated  and  compared  by  Dr.  Edward 
Robinson  and  others,  conclusively  fixes 
this  same  year  as  the  date,  so  that  the  year 
now  closing  really  is  the  year  1900,  and 
will  thus  complete  the  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury  and  introduce  the  twentieth  of  the 
Christian  era. 


CHRIST  AS  THE  CHRISTIAX’S 
CENTRE. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

This  is  the  most  important  theme  that 
we  can  consider.  The  heart  is  the  centre 
of  the  human  organism,  and  as  the  heart 
is  to  the  human  frame,  so  Christ  is  to  the 
believer.  He  is  the  centre  of  organism. 
He  is  the  centre  of  life.  He  is  the  centre 
of  revolution.  He  is  the  centre  of  radia¬ 
tion,  and  He  is  the  centre  of  attraction. 
Everything  is  included  in  this  theme — 
salvation,  sanctification,  service,  love,  joy, 
peace,  prayer,  power,  eternal  life. 

The  phrase,  “  In  Christ  ”  is  the  most 
important  in  the  New  Testament.  It  un¬ 
locks  every  book.  In  Matthew  we  have 
the  kingdom  in  Christ;  Mark,  the  })ower 
of  God;  Luke,  the  Counselor;  John,  God 
manifested  in  the  flesh;  Acts,  Christ 
working  through  the  Holy  Ghost;  Ro¬ 
mans,  Christ  our  Justificr;  Corinthians, 
joined  unto  the  Lord;  Galatians,  sancti¬ 
fied  in  Christ;  Ephesians,  all  one  in 
Christ;  Colossians,  complete  in  Christ; 
Thcssalonians,  glorified  in  Christ;  He¬ 
brews,  all  in  Christ. 

There  is  a  person  back  of  the  promises. 
YJien  I  was  a  student,  my  uncle,  who  was 
wealthy,  took  me  once  for  a  walk,  and  he 
handed  me  a  bit  of  ])apcr  with  these  few 
words  on  it,  addressed  to  his  bookkeci)er, 
“Give  Arthur  ’1'.  Pierson  as  much  money 
as  he  wants.”  It  was  not  the  paper  that 
was  valuable,  but  the  man  back  of  it.  We 
have  no  ])romises  apart  from  Christ. 
’J’here  are  ])eople  who  quote  the  ])r()mises 
of  God  and  yet  they  reject  the  Saviour. 
There  is  not  a  promise  for  such  ])eo])le; 
all  the  jiromiscs  of  God  in  Him  are  yea. 
The  wicked  man  has  as  strong  a  hope  as 
the  Christian,  but  it  is  worthless.  Our 
rights  are  in  Christ;  they  are  the  same  as 
His  rights.  All  our  need  is  covered  by 
His  name,  and  if  we  but  claim  our  stand- 


10 


CnUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


ing  it  will  be  abundantly  supplied.  The 
Bank  of  England  holds  thousands  of 
pounds  that  have  never  been  claimed;  and 
so  there  are  God’s  children  who  have  let 
their  riches  run  to  waste  because  they  do 
not  know  them  or  use  them. 

Christ  is  the  centre  of  the  Christian’s 
love.  Do  not  let  us  ever  put  any  one  else 
there.  If  your  departed  wife  or  husband 
is  the  centre  of  your  heaven,  you  have  a 
wrong  conception.  There  is  one  Person 
before  whose  glory  all  others  should  pale. 
“Them  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God 
bring  with  Him,”  but  He  will  be  first  and 
best.  Christian,  have  Christ  as  your  cen¬ 
tre,  it  will  affect  everything  in  your  life; 
every  touch  will  be  sacred;  everything  you 
value  will  belong  to  Him.  Your  whole  life 
will  be  illuminated,  and  your  whole  busi¬ 
ness  will  be  as  sanctified  as  your  hours  of 
devotion. 

When  John  Wesley  began  his  ministry 
he  lived  on  £35  a  year.  Afterwards,  when 
his  work  was  a  grand  success,  and  hun¬ 
dreds  of  thousands  surrounded  him,  he 
still  lived  on  the  same  amount,  and  all 
the  rest  that  came  through  his  hands  was 
for  the  cause  of  his  Master. 

Your  affections  will  be  His  if  He  is 
your  centre.  No  godly  woman  has  a  right 
to  marry  an  ungodly  man.  No  child  of 
God  has  a  right  to  have  an  unholy  part¬ 
nership  with  the  world  in  business.  If 
Christ  is  enthroned  within.  He  will  radi¬ 
ate  through  all  our  being  and  be  reflected 
in  every  extremity  of  our  life. 

*  *  # 

SATURDAY  DEC.  26. 

CHEIST'S  PASSION. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  O.D. 

It  is  necessary  in  these  days  to  speak 
plain  words  and  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints.  A 
distinguished  minister  from  Great  Brit¬ 
ain  has  recently  visited  this  Continent 
and  been  much  admired  and  beloved;  and 
he  is  worthy  of  the  deepest  personal  re¬ 
gard.  Of  that,  we  have  nothing  to  say; 
but  this  is  the  creed  which  that  man  has 
given  to  us:  “  Friends  and  Followers,  I 
believe  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  in  the 


words  of  Jesus,  in  a  clean  heart,  in  the 
service  of  love,  in  an  unworldly  life,  in 
the  beatitudes.  I  promise  to  love  God  and 
follow  Christ,  to  forgive  my  enemies,  to 
live  an  unworldly  life  and  to  seek  after 
righteousness.”  Now,  this  is  all  very  nice 
as  ethics,  but  there  is  not  a  word  in  it 
that  any  Unitarian  could  not  accept,  that 
any  Universalist  could  not  accept,  that 
any  Spiritualist  could  not  accept,  that  any 
Theosophist  coidd  not  accept,  that  any 
Buddhist  probably  would  not  be  willing 
to  ascribe  to.  There  is  not  a  word  in  it 
about  Christ  dying  for  sinners,  and  I 
stand  here  to  say  boldly  that  Ian  McCla- 
ren,  of  Scotland,  in  teaching  this  stuff  as 
a  substitute  of  the  Gospel,  is  doing  more 
harm  than  Robert  Ingersoll. 

I  want  to  call  attention  to  this  fact: 
that  the  Bible  never  asks  us  to  follow 
Christ’s  life  except  we  first  accept  His 
atonement.  Notice  a  few  passages:  “We 
thus  judge,  that  if  One  died  for  all,  then 
were  all  dead;  and  that  He  died  for  all, 
that  they  which  live  should  not  hence¬ 
forth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him 
which  died  for  them,  and  rose  again.” 
There,  we  see  the  unselfish  life  based  upon 
the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Again,  in  Gal.  ii.  20  we  read:  “I  am 
crucified  with  Christ;  nevertheless,  I  live; 
yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me:  and  the 
life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by 
the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 
me  and  gave  Himself  for  me.”  Here, 
again,  we  see  the  cross  of  Christ  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  Christian’s  consecra¬ 
tion. 

Again,  in  Tit.  ii.  11-14  we  read:  “  The 
grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation  hath 
appeared  to  all  men,  teaching  us  that  de- 
mdng  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we 
should  live  soberly,  righteously  and  godly, 
in  this  present  world;  looking  for  that 
blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ;  who  gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He 
might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity  and 
purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  people 
zealous  of  good  works.”  Here,  the  death 
of  Christ  stands  in  the  very  heart  and  the 
whole  system  of  Christian  morals  and 
Christian  living. 

Once  more,  I.  Pet.  ii.  24:  “  Who  His 
own  self  bear  our  sins  in  His  own  body  on 
the  tree,  that  we,  being  dead  to  sins, 
should  live  unto  righteousness:  by  whose 


CniilSTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


stripes  ye  were  healed.”  Here,  our  holi¬ 
ness  of  life  is  inseparably  linked  to  the 
atoning  death  of  Jesns. 

Finally,  I.  Pet.  iii.  18:  “  Christ  also 
hath  once  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for 
the  unjust,  that  He  might  bring  us  to 
God,  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but 
quickened  by  the  Spirit.”  This  follows, 
immediately,  a  long  passage,  holding  up 
the  symbol  of  Jesus  Christ  for  our  imita¬ 
tion;  the  very  motive  and  principle  is 
Christ’s  atonement  for  us. 

Any  church  that  leaves  out  the  death 
of  Jesus  Christ  leaves  out  the  most  im- 
])ortant  doctrine  of  the  Christian  system, 
and  yet  the  number  is  growing  smaller 
every  year  of  those  who  stand  as  faithful 
and  fearless  witnesses  for  this  central  doc¬ 
trine  of  Christianity.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  no  professor  would  be  tolerated  in  a 
theological  seminary,  and  no  person 
would  be  admitted  to  the  communion 
table  who  questioned  the  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement.  To-day,  millions  are  sitting 
down  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  who  deny 
the  true  significance  of  that  holy  sacra¬ 
ment;  and  chairs  of  public  instruction  in 
our  theological  seminaries  are  held  by 
scores  of  men  who  have  no  shame  in  ex¬ 
plaining  away  all  the  real  significance  of 
the  precious  blood  of  Calvary. 

#  ♦  # 

CHKIST’S  RESURKECTION. 

Hy  REV.  F.  II.  CIIAl’ELE,  D.D. 

The  Apostle  Jude  seems  to  have  in¬ 
tended  to  write  an  epistle  of  encourage¬ 
ment  and  comfort,  but  when  he  took  up 
his  pen  and  began  to  look  around  at  the 
condition  of  things  his  heart  became  so 
stirred  that  it  poured  out  a  torrent  of 
fiery  warnings,  which  are  as  appropriate 
in  our  day  as  they  were  in  his.  I  call  it 
the  Second  Epistle  of  Jude,  because  the 
first  seems  never  to  have  been  written. 
The  two  epistles  in  the  New  Testament 
are  always  strangely  solemn.  Jude  calls 
upon  us  “  to  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the 
saints,”  and  there  is  abundant  reason  to 
do  so  in  our  day,  threatened,  as  it  is, 
with  the  final  apostasy. 

I  read  the  other  day  in  the  “  Outlook  ” 
an  editorial  severely  criticising  a  letter 


1 1 

which  had  been  written  by  an  earnest 
minister,  warning  the  ministry  of  their 
neglect  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 
The  editor  proceeded  to  give  us  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Atonement,  according  to  the 
“  Outlook,”  and  that  was  substantially 
this:  The  Apostle  Paul  was  quoted  as 
saying  that  though  he  had  known  Christ 
after  the  flesh,  now  he  knew  Him  no 
more,  and  in  that  way  the  whole  thing 
was  reduced  to  a  mere  figure  of  speech. 

Now,  how  shall  we  meet  all  this  sort 
of  argument?  By  the  realistic  view  of 
the  Atonement  and  resurrection  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  These  were  actual 
scenes  and  facts.  Here  come  Joseph  and 
Nicodemus.  They  take  down  the  body 
of  the  Lord,  they  wash  away  the  blood, 
they  close  the  eyes,  they  wrap  the  linen 
around  it,  and  filling  the  folds  with  a 
hundred  pounds  of  spices  put  the  pre¬ 
cious  body  in  the  new  tomb.  Then  the 
stone  is  rolled  to  the  mouth,  the  Roman 
seal  is  stamped  upon  it,  the  guards  set, 
and  earth  and  heaven  wait  for  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  the  third  day.  Then,  by  the  su¬ 
preme  power  of  the  Father,  that  body 
springs  to  life  and  passes  unhindered 
through  the  sealed  stone.  Then  the 
angel  comes  and  frightens  away  the 
guards,  and  then  the  disciples  enter  and 
see  the  linen  clothes  lie,  proving  the 
tranquility  ami  the  power  with  which  He 
had  come  forth  and  left  even  His  tomb 
in  perfect  order.  Then  He  began  to  ap¬ 
pear  to  His  disciples  in  that  strange 
spiritual  body  of  the  forty  days.  Now  it 
was  seen,  and  now  it  was  invisible,  and 
all  through  those  days  He  was  giving  us 
a  pattern  of  our  resurrection,  by  and 
bye  showing  to  humanity  what  this  glory 
is.  It  was  humanity  in  its  mortal  state. 

What  were  the  characteristics  of  that 
risen  life? 

1.  Victorious  serenity.  His  greeting  to 
them  was  “All  Hail!”  literally  rejoice. 
It  was  serene  victory;  no  struggling, 
straining  or  pushing;  everything  per¬ 
fectly  right. 

2.  It  was  comprehensive  knowledge. 
The  whole  past,  present  and  future  were 
open  to  Him.  How  He  opened  the 
Scriptures  and  told  them  the  meaning  of 
the  prophecies!  He  looked  upon  the 
world  as  His  empire,  and  sent  them  forth 
to  claim  it.  Flow  He  took  in  the  whole 
age,  even  unto  the  end! 


12 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


3.  Victorious  power.  He  passed 
through  the  closed  doors  without  an  ef¬ 
fort  and  made  Himself  visible  and  invisi¬ 
ble  as  He  pleased.  At  length  He  met 
them  at  the  appointed  place  in  Galilee; 
perhaps  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration 
where  they  were  watching  for  His  ap¬ 
pearing.  At  last  they  saw  Him  coming, 
a  form  of  glorious  majesty;  perhaps 
floating  in  the  air,  perhaps  suddenly  ap¬ 
pearing  in  their  midst.  ”  There  He  is,” 
they  cry,  and  while  they  gaze  He  speaks: 
“  All  power  is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven 
and  earth;  go  ye,  therefore,  and  disciple 
all  the  nations.  You  see  this  power  in 
Me;  soon  you  will  have  it  for  yourselves. 
I  am  but  a  sample  of  your  coming  glory; 
go  and  give  the  message  to  the  nations, 
and  then  wait  for  my  return.” 

4.  How  Christ’s  resurrection  life  con¬ 
nects  heaven  and  earth!  He  talks  about 
the  many  mansions  in  His  Father’s 
house.  This  is  one  of  them ;  we  know 
there  are  more,  but  they  are  all  His  and 
ours,  and  His  life  links  them  all  to¬ 
gether. 

I  have  just  been  called  to  part  with  the 
dearest  one  on  earth.  As  I  looked  at 
her  pale,  cold,  beautiful  face,  I  said: 
“Thank  God!  I  shall  never  lose  you.” 
He  lives,  and  she  lives,  and  I  live  for¬ 
evermore  in  the  risen  and  living  One. 

*  A  A 


CHRIST'S  ASCEHSIOH. 

By  REV.  T.  ITERSON,  D.D. 

The  ascension  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
was  a  contravention  of  all  natural  law. 
It  really  began  in  Ilis  resurrection,  and  of 
which  the  ascension  was  the  complement. 
It  was  God’s  witness  to  the  acceptance  of 
His  work,  and  God's  reward  for  the  depth 
of  His  humility.  In  the  account  given  of 
it  in  Phil.  ii.  9  there  are  seven  steps  down 
and  seven  steps  up.  “  He  made  Himself 
of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  Him  the 
form  of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men:  and  being  found  in  fash¬ 
ion  as  a  man.  He  humbled  Himself,  and 
became  obedient  unto  death,  and  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  death  of  the  cross.  Where¬ 
fore  God  has  exalted  Him  highly,  and 
given  Him  a  name  which  is  above  every 


name:  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and 
things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the 
earth;  and  that  every  tongue  should  con¬ 
fess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father.” 

Paul  speaks  of  his  ascension  in  Eph. 
iv.  8-13  in  connction  with  His  descent, 
first,  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  It 
was  a  triumph  over  all  His  foes.  Satan 
had  determined  to  destroy  Him,  and  for 
this  purpose  He  was  manifested  that  He 
might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. 
The  devil  had  done  his  best  to  destroy 
Christ.  First  he  put  a  blot  on  Mar3^s  rep¬ 
utation  in  connection  with  His  birth; 
then  he  sent  Herod  to  seek  Ilis  life;  then 
he  came  in  the  temntation  with  all  his 
subtlety  and  power;  then  the  betrayal  and 
crucifixion.  At  last  he  had  Him  in  the 
tomb  with  the  Roman  guard  and  the 
Roman  seal,  and  the  work  of  redemption 
seemed  effectually  arrested;  but  in  the 
resurrection  He  burst  that  tomb  and 
broke  that  seal,  and  in  His  ascension.  He 
not  only  rose  above  all  the  depths  of  His 
humiliation,  but  He  caiTied  captive  in 
His  train  the  very  powers  of  hell  that  had 
sought  to  crush  Him;  and  He  did  all  this 
for  us  as  our  Head  and  Representative. 

In  His  incarnation  He  brought  God 
down  to  man,  but  in  His  ascension  He 
took  man  up  to  God. 

He  rose  above  all  principalities  and 
powers  and  took  His  place  on  the  very 
throne  of  His  Father,  securing  for  us  the 
right  to  all  the  glory  to  which  He  had  at¬ 
tained;  and  even  as  the  Roman  conquer¬ 
ors  used  to  enter  the  gates  of  the  city  in 
triumph  carrying  their  captives  chained 
to  their  chariot  wheels,  so  He  led  captivity 
captive,  and  has  passed  in  triumph  to  His 
throne;  and  as  the  Roman  conqueror  used 
to  scatter  all  along  his  way  the  costly  gifts 
and  largesses  which  signalized  the  splen¬ 
dors  of  his  triumph,  so  Jesus,  when  He 
ascended  on  high,  not  only  led  captivity 
captive,  but  He  also  gave  gifts  unto  men, 
and  all  the  privileges  of  our  high  calling 
in  the  church  of  God  are  hut  the  seals  of 
Christ's  ascension. 

Let  us  enter  into  the  full  significance 
of  His  ascension  glory,  let  us  claim  our 
place  hy  His  side,  let  us  sit  with  Him  in 
the  heavenlies  and  in  His  victorious 
might,  let  us  also  take  our  victory  from 
Satan,  death  and  hell. 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


13 


THE  INTERCESSION  OE  CHRIST. 

By  REV.  E.  II.  CIIAPELL,  D.D 

\Ve  are  not  to  think  of  Christ's  inter¬ 
cession  as  we  would  of  a  man  pleading  for 
another.  Christ  is  not  there  at  the  l  ath¬ 
er’s  right  hand  to  plead  with  an  unwilling 
God  for  mercy  to  sinners.  He  is  there, 
rather,  to  represent  our  interest,  as  our 
attorney  and  advocate,  with  right  on  His 
side,  and  with  His  Eather  as  profoundly 
interested  in  our  well-being  as  He  is.  He 
is  there  as  our  mediator,  and  the  channel 
of  approach  to  the  Eather,  and  of  the 
communication  and  blessing  to  us. 

I.  — cueist’s  INTERCESSION  AS  RELATED 

TO  THE  DEVIL. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Satan  had  ac¬ 
cess  to  the  presence  of  God  in  heaven  as 
the  accuser  of  the  saints.  We  see  this  in 
the  case  of  Job  and  afterwards  Joshua, 
the  high  priest,  as  mentioned  in  the  book 
of  Zachariah.  Up  to  the  time  of  Christ’s 
ascension  Satan  had  a  good  cause,  and  an 
unanswerable  argument  against  sinners; 
but  Christ  went  forward  to  the  throne 
bringing  the  unanswerable  jilea  of  His 
own  finished  work,  and  Satan  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  take  a  back  seat;  and  ever  since 
he  has  been  driven  from  heaven  and  now 
assails  us  on  the  earth  and  in  the  air.  But 
just  as  Christ  had  cut  His  way  through 
these  principalities  and  ])owers  that  met 
Him  at  the  very  gates  of  heaven,  so  the 
believer,  too,  must  cut  liis  way  througli, 
until  he  shall  claim  his  place  by  his  Re¬ 
deemer’s  side.  Jesus  Christ  sits  in  bcav- 
en  in  the  j)Osition  of  a  saved  man,  and  an 
answer  to  all  the  devil’s  charges  and  at- 
taebs,  and  in  lilce  ujannei'  wc;,  too,  in  Ills 
name  and  by  His  grace,  are  pressing 
tbrough  the  ranks  of  the  principalities 
and  powers  to  take  our  place  wliero  He  is 
seated  now. 

II.  - cueist’s  INTERCESSION-  IN  RELATION 

TO  THE  A  NO  ELS. 

Gur  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  risen  far 
above  the  angels,  and,  in  His  ascmision, 
we  also  rise  to  a  liiglier  place  than  ilie 
angels.  There  is  no  doubt  that  God  has 
been  much  disappointed  in  many  of  the 
angels.  Job  tells  that  He  chargetb  Ills 
angels  with  folly.  Multitudes  of  tbein  are 
fallen  from  their  high  estate.  Tin'  [irob- 
lem  of  creation  seems  to  have  been  this, 
TTow  to  create  the  bigbest  possible  intel¬ 


ligence  and  yet  hold  them  in  perfect  sub¬ 
jection.  Satan  was  the  greatest  being 
that  God  ever  made,  and  yet  Satan  aspired 
to  be  God  and  lost  his  place  of  righteous¬ 
ness  and  dignity:  therefore,  God  has  now 
to  create  the  loftiest  beings,  amid  low  con¬ 
ditions,  that  they  may  learn  obedience. 
And  so,  Christ  came  down  to  live  in  the 
low  conditions  in  which  He  blesses  His 
peojile,  and  lift  them  with  Himself  to  the 
very  throne  of  God.  Just  as  the  American 
soldier  at  West  Point  goes  through  very 
hard  discipline  in  order  to  prepare  him¬ 
self  for  the  life  of  a  soldier,  so  Jesus  has 
passed  through  the  same  conditions,  and 
the  Captain  of  their  salvation  is  making 
His  followers  perfect  through  suffering. 

III.— CHRIST’S  INTERCESSION  IN  RELATION 
TO  THE  GODHEAD. 

The  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  brought 
down  to  us  the  third  person  of  the  God¬ 
head,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  came,  colored 
by  Ilis  relation  to  the  Son  of  Man.  Just 
as  the  autumn  brook  is  red,  because  it 
washes  the  crimson  leaves  of  autumn  in 
its  course,  so  the  Holy  Ghost  comes  to  us 
witli  the  tint  of  Calvary  and  the  touch  of 
the  heart  of  Jesus;  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
bringing  Him  to  us  in  personal  conscious¬ 
ness  and  revealing  Him  as  the  source  and 
centre  of  our  life. 

Christ  has  ascended  to  heaven  as  our 
Great  High  Priest;  we  are  as  the  common 
])ricsts  of  the  ancient  sanctuary,  'riicre 
were  three  ministries  jiertaining  to  the 
f)rief?t  of  old:  namely.  Sacrifice,  Interces¬ 
sion  and  Blessing.  The  Tiord  Jesus  has 
jiasscd  througli  all  these  on  Calvary.  He 
gave'  n[)  Ilis  own  life  as  tin'  greal  Sacrifice, 
and  now,  at  the  EatheEs  side.  He  is  mak¬ 
ing  Intercession  for  us,  and  soon  lie  is  to 
conn'  forth  in  Blessing  and  establish  Ilis 
reign  of  peace  and  joy  over  the  millennia! 
earth.  We,  likewise,  must  enter  into  all 
the  meaning  of  saeritiee,  the  priesthood  of 
prayer  and  the  highest  of  all  jovs,  that  of 
forgetting  onrsidves  and  ministering  to 
otlu'rs  in  His  name. 

CHRIST  ADMTNTSI'ERING  ITTE 
CTITTRCH. 

n,V  REV.  A.  T.  RTERSON,  D.D. 

Iliere  is  a  very  clear  distinction  be¬ 
tween  the  work  of  the  Tiord  Jesns  Christ 
and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 


14 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


presence  of  botli  is  promised  through  the 
Christian  Age.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  in  us, 
and  Christ  is  witii  us,  and  yet  in  the 
minds  of  many  there  is  much  confusion 
as  to  the  work  of  each.  The  teaching  of 
the  Scriptures  is  exceedingly  clear.  Christ 
is  with  us  in  the  providential  administer¬ 
ing  of  the  church;  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the 
gracious  administering  of  the  work  of  re¬ 
demption.  The  Holy  Ghost  acts  upon 
men  through  the  Word  of  God,  and 
through  the  agency  of  believers.  There 
is  no  reference  in  the  New  Testament 
anywhere  to  the  Holy  Spirit  working 
upon  an  unconverted  man  apart  from 
some  believer.  The  eunuch  in  the  desert 
was  saved  through  the  ministry  of  Philip, 
and  even  though  he  was  at  the  time  read¬ 
ing  his  Bible,  yet  that  Bible  had  reached 
him  through  the  agency  of  some  human 
hand.  Cornelius  was  not  saved  through 
the  ministry  of  an  angel,  but  Peter  had  to 
go  to  carry  the  message. 

But  while  the  Holy  Spirit  acts  under 
these  limitations,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  not  limited  by  any  such  conditions. 
The  minstry  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  to  jus¬ 
tify,  sanctify  and  to  divinely  endue  with 
His  power  the  vessels  of  grace.  Christ’s 
ministry  is  to  overrule  the  events  of  time 
and  prepare  the  way  for  the  Spirit’s  oper¬ 
ations. 

Take  some  illustrations  of  this  adminis¬ 
tration.  The  King  of  Siam  at  one  time 
set  himself  against  the  Gospel  and  de¬ 
termined  to  drive  the  missionaries  out  of 
his  country.  The  missionaries  were  dis¬ 
couraged  and  were  just  awaiting  the  com¬ 
ing  of  a  vessel  to  carry  them  away,  when 
a  few  of  them  were  led  to  pray  for  the 
special  interposition  of  God.  Suddenly 
the  answer  comes.  The  wicked  king  dies 
in  perfect  health  and  all  his  plans  are  ar¬ 
rested.  But  who  will  succeed  him?  There 
is  but  one  man  in  the  country  who  was 
capable  of  proving  a  friend  to  the  cause 
of  missions,  one  of  the  princes  that  had 
been  educated  in  a  missionary  family.  He 
was  at  this  time  in  retirement  in  a  Bud¬ 
dhist  monastery:  but  while  Christ’s  ser¬ 
vants  were  lifting-  up  their  hearts  to  Him 
in  prayer,  this  man  was  chosen  by  the 
vote  of  the  nobles  to  be  the  kino-  of  Siam; 
and  for  all  these  years  he  has  proved  the 
stanch  and  liberal  friend  of  civilization 
and  the  cause  of  Christianity.  He  has  be¬ 
come  the  foster  father  of  the  cause  of  re¬ 


ligion  and  the  liberal  supporter  of  the 
missionary  institutions  of  the  country. 
What  was  this  but  the  hand  of  Christ, 
ruling  and  overruling  for  His  own  glory? 

Look  at  another  scene.  A  decree  has 
gone  forth  from  the  Sultan  of  Turkey 
that  all  the  missionaries  must  leave.  Di¬ 
plomacy  is  exhausted  and  everybody  has 
decided  that  it  is  no  use  to  do  anything. 
Dr.  Goodell  and  Dr.  Hamlin  heard  of  it, 
and  they  said,  “  There  is  another  Euler 
mightier  than  the  Sultan;  let  us  pray  to 
Him.”  They  went  to  God  in  prayer  and 
the  next  day  the  Sultan  died  and  the  de¬ 
cree  has  never  been  heard  of  since. 

If  our  eyes  were  but  open  to  behold  we 
could  see  the  horses  and  chariots  of  the 
sky  around  us  every  day. 

Mrs.  Armstrong,  of  Persia,  tells  of  a 
time  when  a  little  band  was  shut  up  in  the 
mission  house  and  an  army  of  Kurds  was 
overrunning  the  country.  It  was  impossi¬ 
ble  to  get  military  protection  that  would 
be  of  any  avail  against  such  numbers;  and 
so  she  and  her  little  household  gathered 
together  in  prayer  and  calmly  went  to 
bed,  trusting  themselves  to  God.  In  the 
morning  they  were  perfectly  safe  and  the 
Kurds  were  gone.  God’s  angels  had  sur¬ 
rounded  that  house,  and  these  daring  men 
had  supposed,  from  the  perfect  absence  of 
all  attempts  at  defense,  that  the  party 
was  probably  securely  protected  and  con¬ 
cluded  that  it  was  best  not  to  attack  them 
and  went  on. 

On  his  first  journey  to  China,  Hudson 
Taylor  found  the  vessel  on  which  they 
were  sailing  becalmed  near  the  shore  of 
one  of  the  cannibal  islands  of  southeast¬ 
ern  Asia.  They  could  see  the  forms  of  the 
savages  on  the  shore  getting  ready  for  the 
horrible  banquet  which  the  ocean  current 
was  bearing  to  them.  The  captain  was  an 
ungodly  man,  but  he  knew  that  without  a 
miracle  they  were  lost,  and  he  suggested 
to  Taylor  to  pray.  “  I  will  pray,”  he  an¬ 
swered,  “  if  you  will  put  up  the  sail.” 
The  captain  laughed  at  the  idea  of  put¬ 
ting  up  the  sail  in  the  midst  of  a  perfect 
calm,  but  be  did  so,  and  Mr.  Taylor  went 
down  to  his  cabin  and  pra3"ed.  In  a  few 
moments  the  wind  had  come,  the  ship 
turned  around  and  the  savages  were 
cheated  of  their  prey. 

In  my  own  experience,  I  remember  once 
going  to  a  church  where  there  were  two 
hostile  camps  who  would  not  sit  on  the 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


15 


saniv.  side  of  the  church.  At  last  I  asked 
the  liord  either  to  heal  this  hindering 
breach  or  to  take  me  away.  It  was  not 
long  before  the  Lord  laid  His  hand  on  the 
leaders  of  this  strife.  The  first  was  taken 
with  diphtheria  and  died.  The  second 
had  his  rent  raised  on  him  and  went  away. 
The  third  fell  under  reproach  and  lost  all 
his  influence.  The  true  way  to  carry  on 
the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  to  recognize 
the  Lord  Himself  as  her  King  and  bring 
to  Him  every  detail  of  her  work. 

Who  has  not  read  the  story  of  Paton  of 
New  Hebrides?  Fifty-seven  times  his  life 
was  marvellously  saved  by  the  direct  in¬ 
terposition  of  God  and  he  still  lives  to  re¬ 
joice  in  the  precious  harvest  that  has 
sprung  up  on  every  side  after  years  of  suf¬ 
fering  and  sowing.  This  is  what  the  mis¬ 
sionary  needs  to  give  him  courage.  Only 
let  the  Master  say,  “  Certainly,  I  wil  I  be 
with  thee,”  and  nothing  can  dismay  us. 
This  is  the  secret  of  living  a  supernatural 
life,  amid  all  circumstances  and  situa¬ 
tions.  There  is  no  place  in  life  where  we 
cannot  represent  our  Master  and  rely  upon 
His  supernatural  presence  and  mighty 
power. 

4  *  * 

THE  LOED’S  COMING. 

By  MR.  C.  T.  STUDD. 

What  effect  did  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord’  coming  have  upon  the  early  dis¬ 
ciples?  At  first  they  stood  gazing  up  into 
heaven,  but  soon  they  turned  back  to  Je- 
rualem  and  worshipped  the  ascended  One, 
and  then  went  forth  with  the  miglity 
faith  of  His  ascension  and  His  coming,  to 
conquer  the  world  for  Him,  and  they 
never  ceased  until  Eome  was  subdued  by 
the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ. 

How  little  we  are  like  them!  They  were 
dare-devils  in  their  bold  and  fearless  lives 
and  labors  for  their  Master.  We  are  care- 
devils  in  our  selfish  worry  about  the  petty 
things  of  time. 

I  remember  the  first  time  one  of  our 
Chinese  friends  heard  of  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  person  to  reign  over  this 
world.  The  man  seemed  overwhelmed 
with  awe  as  he  heard  of  it  and  he  trem¬ 
bled  all  over.  I  asked  him  what  was  the 
matter.  “  Why,”  he  said,  “  I  must  go  and 
sell  that  field  and  get  ready  to  meet  my 
Lord.” 


SUNDAY,  DEC.  27. 

THE  BIBLE:  ITS  SUPEEME  CLAIMS 
UPON  OUE  FAITH  AND 
LOYALTY. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

The  basis  of  this  address  will  be  found 
in  II.  Peter,  i.,  16-21.  This  passage  pre¬ 
sents  to  us  the  Lord  Jesus  at  the  con¬ 
summate  moment  of  His  earthly  life.  He 
had  appeared  among  men  in  disguise, 
and  wore  the  garment  of  humanity  as  a 
veil  of  flesh  which  concealed  His  true 
divinity.  He  appeared  among  men  as  a 
man,  as  a  workingman  among  working¬ 
men,  as  a  poor  man  among  poor  men. 
The  glory  of  His  divinity  but  dimly 
shone,  and  only  few  understood  His 
higher  character,  and  they  but  imper¬ 
fectly,  for  in  the  crisis  they  forsook  Him 
and  failed  to  give  Him  their  confidence. 

One  moment  only  did  He  reveal  His 
true  character.  On  the  Mount  of  Trans¬ 
figuration  His  glory  shone  through  the 
▼eil  of  humanity,  and  so  overpowered  the 
three  Disciples  that  accompanied  Him 
that  they  were  dazzled  by  His  splendor, 
and  talked  incoherently  as  men  who 
were  asleep.  His  body  became  trans¬ 
parent,  and  His  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light  and  made  the  place  all  supernatur- 
ally  bright.  There  came  a  voice  out  of 
the  heavenly  cloud,  proclaiming,  “  This 
is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased;  hear  ye  Him.” 

Now  Peter,  referring  to  this  scene, 
says:  “We  have  not  followed  cunning¬ 
ly  devised  fables  when  we  declared  unto 
you  the  power  and  coming  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  for  we  were  eye-witnesses  of  His 
majesty  when  we  were  with  Him  on  the 
holy  mount.”  But  he  adds:  “  We  have  a 
more  sure  word  of  prophesy.  More 
was  sure;  we  saw  it — three  of  us;  I  bear 
witness  to  it.  But  God’s  Word  is  even 
more  sure  than  our  vision.”  Tlie  eye 
may  be  deceived,  the  ear  may  mislead  us. 
There  are  people  that  see  things  they 
never  saw,  and  hear  things  they  never 
hear,  but  tha  Word  of  God  is  more  sure 
than  the  best  attested  witness  of  all  our 
sure  even  than  that  vision.  The  vision 
scMises. 

Wliat  a  testimony  this  is  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures!  and  it  includes  both  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  What 


16 


CIIIIIST.MAS  CONVOCATION. 


mortal  lools  we  are  to  treat  with  neglect, 
to  allow  to  be  depreciated  by  the  assaults 
of  fiiiiaclity,  tins  divine  message  which 
comes  to  us  attested  by  such  credentials. 

If  the  President  of  the  United  States 
should  issue  a  decree  or  proclamation,  it 
would  be  reasonable  that  he  should  give 
the  people  ample  means  of  verifving  the 
authority  of  that  proclamation  and  mak¬ 
ing  sure  that  it  was  indeed  his.  So  God 
has  given  to  us  all  the  necessary  mate¬ 
rials  by  which  we  may  establish  the 
genuineness,  authenticity  and  authority 
of  the  Scriptures.  He  has  put  His  own 
seal  upon  this  marvelous  book,  and  we 
know  It  bears  His  stamp  divine. 

Its  peculiar  seal  is  the  witness  of 
prophecy.  It  is  one  that  appeals  to  the 
common  people,  and  the  most  ordinary 
intelligence  can  understand  its  force. 

There  are  some  things  we  know,  but 
we  do  not  know  the  future.  Any  one 
who  can  accurately  foretell  future  events 
with  sufficient  detail  and  with  sufficient 
remoteness  must  have  supernatural 
knowledge.  There  are  some  things 
which  man  may  calculate  by  scientific  or 
natural  probabilities,  but  the  prophecies 
of  Holy  Scripture  have  these  peculiari¬ 
ties: 

First — The  predictions  refer  to  the 
events  far  in  the  future  that  were  not 
foreshadowed  by  any  circumstances  at 
the  time. 

Secondly — They  go  into  minute  par¬ 
ticulars. 

Thirdly — They  present  new  combina¬ 
tions  of  events  which  had  nothing  in  ex¬ 
isting  events  to  render  them  probable. 

Fourth — They  contain  apparent  con¬ 
tradictions  which  the  events  alone  can 
harmonize,  and  which  prove  to  be  not 
contradictions  but  onlv  deeper  confirma¬ 
tions  of  the  truth  of  the  prophecy. 

Now.  dropping  all  other  prophecies 
about  nations  and  individuals,  we  will 
simply  confine  ourselves  to  the  prophe¬ 
cies  respecting  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
whose  person  and  work  have  been 
brought  so  prominently  before  us  this 
time. 

First — The  predictions  respecting  Him 
in  the  Old  Testament  reach  forward  to  a 
r.f'viod  ill  tbp  futurc.  Daniel  in¬ 
timated  that  nearly  five  centuries  must 
elap«e  from  a  given  date  before  His  ap- 
^^7-^  know,  as  a  matter  of  his¬ 
torical  certainty,  that  the  Jews  had  the 


Scripiures  in  their  Hebrew  form  for  sev¬ 
eral  centuries,  and  the  Greek  translation 
between  two  and  three  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era.  It  was  not  possible, 
therefore,  that  the  wisest  of  men  could 
guess  across  so  long  a  period  of  time. 

Second — The  prophecies  concerning 
Him  were  given  with  great  minuteness 
of  detail  Now.  there  is  a  law  known  as 
the  law  of  simple  and  compound  proba¬ 
bilities.  A  shrewd  man  may  make  a  fair 
guess  about  a  single  circumstance  that 
may  come  to  pass,  but  if  that  circum¬ 
stance  is  complicated  by  two  or  three  de¬ 
tails,  each  of  these  details  lessens  the 
probability.  And  if  there  should  be  three 
hundred  details  all  specified,  the  proba¬ 
bility  of  all  of  these  coming  to  pass  would 
be  diminished  three  hundred  times. 

Now  the  Old  Testament  contains  333 
prophecies  about  Jesus  Christ.  It  tells 
His  name,  it  tells  who  His  mother  was  to 
be,  what  country  He  was  to  be  born  in, 
what  city;  it  give.,  the  particulars  of  His 
childhood,  where  He  should  reside,  His 
temptation,  His  death,  His  burial,  the 
very  number  of  pieces  of  silver  to  be 
Daid  to  His  betrayer,  the  very  purpose 
for  which  this  silver  was  afterward  used, 
the  disposition  of  His  garments,  and  the 
verv  year  in  which  He  should  come. 

Now,  how  any  man  could  look  down 
the  centuries  and  tell  all  this  without 
supernatural  knowledge  is  simply  incon¬ 
ceivable.  He  might  have  been  bom  in 
a  hundred  different  places;  nay.  He 
might  easily  have  missed  being  born  in 
Bethlehem,  for  His  mother  did  not  live 
there ;  but  God  ordered  it  that  she  should 
come  to  Bethlehem  at  the  very  moment 
the  prophecy  required,  in  order  to  fulfill 
the  announcement  of  old  Micah,  that  in 
Bethlehem  of  Judea  the  Christ  should  be 
bom. 

Rabinowitch,  the  distinguished  He¬ 
brew  Christian,  once  said  to  me.  as  I 
asked  him  how  many  of  the  psalms  are 
Messianic.  “  Everv  one  of  them.”  It  was 
beautiful  to  hear  the  old  man  chanting 
the  Psalms  of  David,  and  exulting  over 
pas.sages  which  no  one  else  ever  dreamed 
referred  to  Christ,  and  finding  in  everv 
letter  and  svllable  of  the  ancient  Scrip¬ 
tures  a  foreshadowing  of  his  coming 
Lord. 

Then  the  Old  Testament  pronhecies 
respecting  CItrist  have  explicit  reference 
to  the  very  time  of  His  coming.  Daniel 


GHUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


17 


tells  us  in  his  ninth  chapter  that  an  in¬ 
terval  of  sixty-nine  sevens,  meaning  483 
years,  should  elapse  from  the  decree  of 
Artaxerxes  in  483  until  the  time  of  the 
Messiah,  the  Prince;  and  we  find  that  ex¬ 
actly  that  period  elapsed  up  to  the  very 
hour  when  He  entered  into  Jerusalem  in 
triumph,  and  allowed  Himself  to  be  pro¬ 
claimed  as  David’s  Son  and  Israel’s  King. 

You  can  take  this  Bible  from  Genesis 
to  Malachi,  and  put  one  forefinger  on  the 
333  prophecies,  and  put  the  other  fore¬ 
finger  on  333  facts  in  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  that  exactly  fulfill  them.  Just  as 
these  two  hands  correspond,  thumb  to 
thumb,  forefinger  to  forefinger,  hand  to 
hand,  so,  yes,  and  much  more  so,  do 
prophecy  and  history  agree  in  their 
parallel  story  of  Jesus  Christ.  Indeed, 
the  circular  markings  of  the  interior  of 
the  thumb  are  so  distinct  that  you  can 
identifv  a  man  by  his  hand,  and  the  two 
hands  in  the  human  body  correspond  so 
perfectly  that  no  one  else  could  claim  mv 
hand  as  his.  It  is  precisely  so  that  these 
prophetic  records  correspond  to  the  story 
of  Jesus.  What  mortal  fools  we  are  to 
neglect  this  sacred  volume,  or  very 
Word  of  the  living  God! 

Rut  the  Apostle  Peter  speaks  of  some¬ 
thing  better:  “Until  the  dav  dawn  and 
the  day  star  arise  in  our  hearts.”  Travel¬ 
ers  get  up  in  Switzerland  long  before  dav 
to  see  the  sun  rise  on  one  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  tops.  Along  the  dangerous  passage 
they  follow  the  guide  bv  the  light  of  a 
feeble  torch.  They  walk  warily  to  keep 
from  stumbling,  and  at  last  thev  get  to 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  and  look  out 
upon  the  gray  east,  slowly  changing  from 
purple  to  gold,  until  at  last  the  monarch 
of  the  day  arises  from  his  couch,  puts 
away  the  curtains  of  the  morning,  and 
goes  forth  as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race. 
And  then  you  throw  away  your  torch. 

Beloved,  prophecy  is  your  torch,  but 
when  vou  reach  the  mountain  top  and 
meet  the  dawn,  then  you  shall  have  the 
light  of  God  Himself.  Justification. 
.Sanctification,  faith,  hope — through  all 
the.se  steps  have  we  come  by  the 
light  of  this  holy  torch;  but  some  day  we 
shall  live  in  the  Eternal  Light,  and  then 
the  torch  will  grow  dim  in  the  light  of 
that  city  which  has  no  need  of  the  sun, 
for  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the 
light  thereof. 


THE  LIVING  WORD. 

By  PROFESSOR  STROETER. 

I  hold  in  my  hand  the  only  live  book 
in  the  world.  The  Bible  is  a  living  word, 
but  hack  of  the  Bible  is  the  living  Word, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  for  the 
Word  became  flesh  and  tabernacled  among 
us.  God’s  word  is  like  a  great  ocean;  it 
has  deep  places  like  the  mighty  sea,  but 
we  need  not  crawl  along  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean.  We  are  told  about  this  living 
Word,  that  in  the  beginning  He  was,  and 
He  was  with  God  and  He  was  God.  He  was 
before  all  things,  and  by  Him  all  things 
were  created.  To  Him  and  through  Him 
and  for  Him  are  all  things.  Philosophy 
says  that  the  greater  includes  the  less; 
but  in  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  it  be¬ 
came  true  that  the  less  included  the 
greater. 

Philosophers  are  trying  to  get  away 
from  human  flesh,  but  the  mystery  of  re¬ 
demption  is  that  God  has  lifted  it  up  into 
union  with  Himself  forever.  No  more  is 
there  to  be  any  separation  between  the 
creation  and  the  Creator,  for  some  day 
God  shall  be  all  and  in  all.  The  very 
weakest  of  God’s  creatures — man— is 
taken  up  into  fellowsliip  with  God  in 
Jesus  Christ.  And  some  day  this  will 
reach  its  consummation  in  the  new  Jeru¬ 
salem,  when  the  mystery  of  God’s  union 
with  man  shall  be  comjilete,  and  it  will  be 
true,  “  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is 
with  man,  and  God  Himself  shall  be  with 
them  and  shall  he  their  God.” 

#  # 

’ITIE  CHRISTIAN  A  LIVING  EPIS¬ 
TLE. 

I!y  MR.  C.  T.  STIIDI). 

You  have  heard  the  theory  of  this 
great  subject;  I  am  coming  in  with  the 
dessert.  You  have  had  the  roast  beef; 
now  I  will  bring  you  the  pudding.  But 
the  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating 
of  it,  and  so,  to  me,  the  best  of  all  is  that 
we  can  live  this  life.  And  yet,  what  a 
comfort  it  is  to  know  that  His  grace  is 
greater  than  our  helplessnes. 

I  often  get  letters  from  my  dear  wife 
and  four  little  gifls,  and  sometimes  there 
are  blots  on  them.  When  I  was  a  school¬ 
boy  I  once  got  a  big  blot  on  my  copy 


18 


CHUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


book,  and  I  asked  my  companion  to  re¬ 
move  it.  He  took  the  page  and  just  gave 
it  one  lick,  and,  lo!  the  blot  was  entirely 
gone.  That  is  the  way  Christ  takes 
away  my  blots.  He  just  touched  me 
with  His  love  and  wiped  away  all  my 
sin,  and  took  it  all  into  Himself. 

Sometimes  things  are  hard  and  trying, 
but  these  are  no  contradiction  of  His 
love.  Our  trials  are  even  the  best  proofs 
of  His  love.  Our  trials  are  even  the  best 
proofs  of  His  tender  regard.  When  I 
get  letters  from  my  little  ones,  they  are 
full  of  little  crosses,  and  these  little 
crosses  all  stand  for  kisses  which  they 
have  sent  me;  and  when  I  write  to  them 
it  is  not  enough  for  me  to  send  a  kiss  in 
writing,  but  they  look  for  their  little 
crosses,  and  I  have  a  different  color  for 
each  of  the  little  ones,  according  to  their 
names.  One  is  red,  another  green,  an¬ 
other  blue  and  another  violet,  and  each 
little  girl  looks  for  her  little  cross,  and  it 
means  to  her  a  father’s  kiss.  So,  it  is 
often  a  comfort  to  me  to  think  that  His 
crosses  are  just  His  kisses. 

I  have  been  asked,  since  I  spoke  about 
my  call  what  about  your  mother;  is  she 
dead?  No,  she  is  living  still,  and  she  is 
love  all  over;  I  want  you  to  pray  for 
her.  When  any  of  us  boys  are  sick  she 
is  always  sick  for  us.  She  has  taught  me 
the  meaning  of  that  verse,  “  In  all  their 
affliction  He  was  afflicted,  and  the  angel 
of  His  presence  saved  them.”  She  feels 
the  separation  more  than  I.  Ah,  it  has 
taught  me  to  remember  how  God  loves 
one.  His  greatest  proof  of  love  to  me 
was  to  let  me  go  to  China.  I  have  a 
brother  in  the  Horse  Guards,  a  great  big 
fellow,  more  than  six  feet  high,  and  my 
mother  is  very  proud  of  him,  but  I  feel 
that  I  have  a  much  higher  honor  in  being 
permitted  to  be  a  missionary  and  wear 
the  Lord’s  uniform. 

When  my  father  died  he  left  a  large 
fortune  to  us,  but  arranged  it  so  that  I 
could  draw  nothing  until  I  was  25,  so  I 
went  to  China  a  poor  man,  and  for  some 
years  I  tramped  around  and  moved  about 
from  place  to  place,  and  learned  to  en¬ 
dure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  was  very  good  of  God  to 
train  me  in  this  way,  and  prepare  me  to 
trust  Him  in  hard  places.  Then  the  time 
came  when  my  inheritance  was  to  come 
to  me,  and  I  received  a  letter  so  inform¬ 


ing  me,  requiring  me  to  sign  a  power  of 
attorney  enabling  my  representative  to 
act.  When  I  signed  this  paper  I  told  the 
notary  in  China  how  I  wanted  this  prop¬ 
erty  disposed  of  for  the  Lord.  He  re¬ 
fused  to  witness  it,  and  thought  I  must 
be  crazy  to  give  it  away;  but  after  wait¬ 
ing  a  couple  of  weeks  he  finally  cort- 
sented,  so  I  was  still  left  dependent  upon 
God.  Ah,  how  God  began  to  make  it 
up.  First,  He  saved  my  brother  who 
had  tried  to  avoid  Him,  but  God  per¬ 
mitted  me  to  see  him  brought  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  now  he  is  preaching  the  Gos¬ 
pel  and  living  for  God.  Then  I  had  to 
propose  to  my  dear  w4fe  that  was  to  be. 
I  told  her  that  I  was  asking  her  to  marry 
a  man  that  had  no  money.  To  my  great 
joy  she  wrote  back  and  said;  “If  you 
had  had  the  money  I  would  not  have  had 
you,”  and  I  saw  the  love  of  God  again. 

I  began  to  work  independently.  There 
were  no  Europeans,  and  the  poor  China¬ 
men  could  not  help.  There  was  no  one 
to  look  to  but  God.  There,  for  seven 
vears  God  kept  us  and  met  all  our  needs. 
When  my  earthly  father  was  living  I 
never  had  to  ask  Him  for  money;  he  was 
always  thinking  about  us,  and  would 
give  us  a  tip  whenever  we  needed  any¬ 
thing.  And  so  God  has  been  keeping  me 
since  I  have  had  no  other  father  or  de¬ 
pendants. 

At  one  time  I  sent  an  order  to  my 
agent  to  use  a  certain  amount  of  money 
for  a  charitable  purpose.  He  made  a 
big  mistake,  and  used  double  the  amount 
I  ordered.  It  threw  us  into  extremely 
hard  circumstances.  We  had  a  baby 
which  was  bom  then,  and  we  could  not 
even  afford  to  pav  for  registering  this 
little  one.  We  had  nothing  that  we 
could  sell,  for  if  we  do  have  anything  in 
China  eveiw  Chinaman  is  a  magnet  that 
attracts  to  himself  anything  worth  tak¬ 
ing.  Finallv  we  came  to  the  last  cash, 
and  I  said  in  the  hearing  of  one  of  my 
Chinese  friends,  “  I  do  not  know  where 
the  next  cash  is  coming  from.”  I  was 
glad  the  man  heard  me  say  this,  for 
when  the  mail  came  next  day  and* 
brought  a  supply  of  all  we  needed,  he 
saw  the  hand  of  God  and  glorified  Him 
for  His  faithfulness. 

At  another  time  we  had  bought  a 
house,  but  had  not  enough  to  fix  it  up, 
for  it  needed  to  be  taken  down  and  built 


CH  U I  STM  A  S  CONVOCATION. 


19 


over  to  be  of  any  use.  At  the  same  time 
I  got  very  ill,  and  was  told  by  my  friends 
that  I  had  galloping  consumption  and 
must  go  home  at  once.  A  friend  heard 
of  my  illness  and  sent  me  a  large  check 
to  pay  my  way  and  my  family’s,  but  God 
had  already  shown  me  that  I  must  not  go 
to  England,  and  so  I  saw  not  much  help 
by  his  letter,  but  when  I  turned  over  the 
page  I  read  this  postscript:  “  If  you  won’t 
go  to  England,  and  will  be  so  foolish, 
then  use  the  money  for  anything  you 
need  it  for.”  Ah,  that  led  me  out  an(d 
showed  me  my  faithful  God. 

I  was  telling  a  man  the  other  day  on 
the  train  how  God  had  led  me  and  car¬ 
ried  me  through  these  trials,  and  he  told 
me  that  it  was  a  pack  of  lies,  and  did  not 
believe  a  word  of  it,  but  some  day  he  will 
know  how  true  it  is,  as  God  knows  now. 

So  He  is  faithful  who  hath  promised, 
and  even  if  we  believe  not,  He  abideth 
faithful  and  cannot  deny  Himself.  Oh, 
brother,  let  Him  have  you  fully,  and  you 
shall  find  that  you  have  Him  in  all  His 
fullness. 

4  4  * 

CHRIST  THE  OJILY  AND  ALL-SUF¬ 
FICIENT  SAVIOUR. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

There  are  four  passages  in  the  l^pistle 
to  the  Hebrews  where  Christ’s  ability  is 
referred  to. 

1.  He  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are 
tempted. 

Christ  won  for  u?  the  victory  which 
Adam  lost.  In  His  temptation  He  coun¬ 
teracted  the  terrible  defeat  of  the  fall  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  our  perfect  victory; 
for  we  can  overcome,  even  as  He,  if  we 
know  what  it  is  to  be  in  Him  and  meet 
our  spiritual  foes  in  His  name. 

2.  He  is  able  to  be  touebed  with  the 
feeling  of  our  infirmities. 

This  corresponds  with  His  agony  in 
Cethsemane,  as  the  former  passage  does 
with  TTis  temptation  in  the  wilderness. 
When  Satan  cannot  seduce  us,  he  will 
oyipress  us  as  ho  did  our  blessed  Lord  in 
the  supreme  hour  of  TTis  agony;  hut  TTe 
who  suffered  for  us  in  the  garden  will  suf¬ 
fer  and  triumyih  in  us  still,  and  enable  us 
to  rise  in  TTis  joy,  even  over  the  power  of 
sorrow. 


3.  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost. 

This  finds  its  illustration  in  the  super¬ 
natural  ministries  of  His  life.  The  sick¬ 
nesses  that  He  healed,  and  the  miracles 
that  He  wrought  were  all  types  of  His 
saving  power,  and  covered  the  whole 
range  of  His  spiritual  working.  He  that 
healed  the  fever-stricken  ones  can  quench 
the  fever  of  sinful  desire;  He  that 
strengthened  the  palsied  can  give  power 
to  the  paralyzed  will;  He  that  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  blind  can  give  inward  illumi¬ 
nation  now,  for  He  is  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  all  that  come  to  God  by  Him. 

4.  He  is  able  to  introduce  us  into  the 
holiest  and  secure  our  access  to  the  fel¬ 
lowship  of  God  and  the  glory  of  heaven. 

A  poor  Chinaman,  and  victim  of  opium, 
and  one  of  the  worst  possible  characters 
in  Central  China,  stumliled  into  the  chap¬ 
el  at  Hancow  and  heard  a  simple  sermon 
on  this  text,  “  He  is  able  to  save  to  the 
uttermost.”  He  waited  after  the  serUce 
and  asked  the  preacher  if  such  a  man  as 
he  could  be  saved.  “  Oh,  yes,”  said  the 
preacher.  “  Ah,  but  you  don’t  know  me. 
How  long  would  it  take  Jesus  to  save 
me?”  “  About  a  minute.”  The  man  was 
incredulous,  but  he  liung  about  the  mis¬ 
sion,  and  one  nfght  he  rushed  into  the 
chapel  and  exclaimed,  “  I  know  it,  it  is 
true;  He  is  able.  He  saved  me!”  TTe  never 
tasted  opium  again,  and  went  back  to  his 
own  village  to  tell  his  people.  They  threat¬ 
ened  to  kill  him,  but  lie  did  not  fear 
them.  On  the  street  corners  he  preached 
Jesus  and  told  his  story.  He  was  taken 
before  the  magistrate  and  sentenced  to 
receive  3,000  Idows  with  the  bamboo. 
Such  a  jiimisbinent  was  unjireccdented. 
His  fiesh  hung  from  his  bones  and  the 
physician  said  be  must  die.  Rut  be  was 
carried  away  and  nursed  by  , friends,  and 
instead  of  complainig,  he  was  singing 
liraises  to  God  amid  his  sufferings.  After 
a  while  ho  recovered,  and  the  first  thing 
be  did  was  to  walk  back  twenlv  mih's  to 
the  same  street  corner  and  begin  to  iireacb 
again.  They  arrested  him  again  and  yml 
him  in  nrison,  but  this  time  they  did  not 
dare  to  beat  him.  T’hey  put  biin  liehind 
the  bars.  The  yirison  was  on  tin'  top  of  a 
bill.  What  did  be  do?  TTi’  went  and  stood 
at  the  open  bars  and  shouted  wilb  all  his 
might  as  a  mnltilude  of  a  tbousand  neo- 
ple  gathered  around  to  hear  him,  “None 
of  these  things  move  me,  neither  count  T 


20 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might 
finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  minis¬ 
try  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God.” 

The  same  Saviour  is  still  all-sutficient, 
and  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that 
come  to  God  by  Him. 

^  « 

A  MIRACLE  OP  GRACE. 

By  MR.  C.  T.  STOOD. 

1  was  brought  up  to  dislike  religion. 
The  first  thing  that  ever  impressed  me 
was  my  father’s  conversion.  I  would  as 
soon  have  thought  of  changing  a  pair  of 
shoes  into  a  table  as  changing  my  father 
into  a  Christian.  He  was  a  wealthy 
sportsman,  and  he  brought  us  up  to  be 
the  same.  He  wanted  us  to  be  manly 
fellows.  There  were  three  of  us  boys, 
and  he  used  to  put  us  on  thoroughbred 
horses  and  take  us  out  into  the  country 
and  make  us  hunt  after  him,  and  if  we 
did  not  keep  up  with  him  in  the  chase  he 
was  sure  to  be  after  us  and  make  us.  He 
taught  us  to  swim,  and  then  when  he 
thought  we  had  enough  of  the  theory  he 
pitched  us  in  headforemost  and  compelled 
us  to  struggle  for  our  lives. 

When  Moody  came  over  to  England  my 
father  used  to  read  in  the  papers  about 
his  great  meetings,  and  he  was  struck  by 
the  novelty  of  the  thing.  One  day  lie 
threw  the  paper  down  and  said,  “If  that 
man  comes  to  London  I  must  go  and  hear 
him.  There  must  be  something  good  in 
him  when  the  papers  abuse  him  so  much.” 
My  father  had  a  friend  in  Dublin  who 
had  just  been  converted  at  Mr.  Moody’s 
meetings  there,  although  my  father  did 
not  know  it.  He  came  over  to  visit  my 
father  about  the  time  Mr.  Moody  was  be¬ 
ginning  his  meetings  in  London. 

In  our  stables  there  were  about  forty 
race  horses;  there  was  one  in  particular 
that  my  father  knew  to  be  certain  to  win, 
and  he  sent  word  to  this  Irish  friend,  in¬ 
forming  him  of  this  privately  and  advis¬ 
ing  him  to  back  this  horse  with  heavy 
betting,  for  he  was  sure  to  make  a  lot  of 
money  on  him.  The  next  time  he  met 
his  friend  he  asked  him  how  much  he  had 
put  up  on  the  horse.  “Nothing,”  he 


said.  My  father  told  him  he  was  a  fool, 
but  he  asked  him,  all  the  same,  to  come 
and  dine  with  him.  After  dinner  they 
proposed  to  go  out,  and  my  father  asked 
him  where  they  would  go.  He  politely  de¬ 
clined  to  choose,  but  when  my  father  in¬ 
sisted,  he  suggested  that  they  go  and  hear 
Mr.  Moody.  “Oh,  no,”  said  my  father, 
“not  there,  anywhere  else.”  “But,”  said 
his  friend,  “you  told  me  you  would  go 
where  I  chose,  and  I  hold  you  to  your 
word.”  “All  right,”  said  my  father,  and 
so  they  went.  The  hall  was  very  crowd¬ 
ed  and  my  friend  knew  that  if  he  did  not 
get  a  good  seat  for  my  father  he  would 
never  come  back  again.  So  he  stepped 
up  to  Mr.  Matheson,  one  of  the  com¬ 
mittee,  and  said,  “I  have  got  a  big  sports¬ 
man  here  tnat  i  want  to  get  converted, 
won’t  you  get  him  a  good  seat?”  Mr. 
Matheson  sat  him  down  right  under  Mr. 
Moody’s  nose,  and  he  never  took  his  eye 
off  the  preacher  all  the  evening.  Next 
night,  he  himself  proposed  to  go  back  and 
said  he  wanted  to  hear  that  man  again 
who  told  him  all  that  he  ever  did.  He 
took  my  little  sister  with  him.  At  the 
close  she  wanted  to  go  into  the  inquiry 
meeting,  and  he  said,  “Oh,  no,  not  there.” 

Next  day  he  wanted  to  take  the  little 
girl  back  again,  but  she  refused.  “No,” 
she  said,  “I  won’t  go  unless  you  let  me  do 
as  I  please.”  “All  right,”  he  said,  “you 
can  do  as  you  please,”  and  so  they  went. 
At  the  close  of  the  meeting  she  insisted 
on  going  into  the  inquiry  room.  He  said, 
“Oh,  no,  dear,  not  there.”  “But  you 
told  me  I  could  do  as  I  pleased.”  And 
so  he  had  to  go  in  with  her  to  take  care  of 
her,  and  before  he  had  got  many  steps  in¬ 
side  the  room  he  was  talking  to  one  of  the 
workers,  and  before  the  night  was  over  he 
was  a  converted  man. 

You  never  saw  such  a  change  in  any 
man.  It  was  the  same  skin,  but  another 
man  was  inside  of  it.  We  all  thought 
him  crazy — quite  off  his  head— and,  in¬ 
deed,  he  was,  but  he  had  got  into  his 
heart  instead.  He  sold  his  horses  and 
gave  up  his  sporting.  He  went  to  Mr. 
Moody  to  ask  what  he  should  do  about 
his  old  life — shooting,  hunting  and  horse 
racing.  Mr.  Moody  said,  “I  have  noth¬ 
ing  to  say  about  the  hunting  and  shoot¬ 
ing.  God  will  show  you  all  about  that, 
but  horse  racing  includes  betting  and  bet- 


CUKISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


21 


ting  is  wrong.”  it  was  not  long  until 
they  all  went. 

lint  it  was  a  good  while  before  I  got 
really  converted.  I  could  not  see  the 
way  of  accepting  Christ.  One  night  in 
the  inquiry  room  a  friend  quoted  the 
verse,  “God  so  loved  the  world  that  He 
gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso¬ 
ever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life,”  and  asked  me 
if  I  believed  the  verse.  I  said  “Yes.” 
“Do  you  believe  it  all?”  I  thought  I  did. 
“Do  you  believe  the  first  part  of  it,  that 
God  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to  save 
men?”  “Yes.”  “Do  you  believe  the 
last  part,  that  you  have  everlasting  life?” 
“Why,  no,”  I  said,  “I  don’t  think  I  do.” 
“Well,”  he  said,  “what  consistency  is 
there  in  believing  the  first  half  and  not 
believing  the  second  part?”  And  then  I 
saw  that  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  believe. 
And,  then,  in  a  moment  I  was  on  my 
knees  thanking  God  that  I  had  everlast¬ 
ing  life. 

It  was  a  good  while  before  I  had  a 
soul.  One  night  as  I  sat  beside  my 
brother’s  bed,  where  he  lay  apparently 
dying  with  malignant  fever  and  hem¬ 
orrhages,  I  began  to  think,  “What  is  the 
good  of  all  his  sporting  now  to  him,  all 
his  athletics,  all  his  physical  manhood 
and  all  his  college  honors?”  And  in  his 
life  I  saw  my  own,  and  I  realized  that  it 
was  wasted,  and  there  and  then  I  gave 
myself  to  God,  never  to  lose  another  mo¬ 
ment  or  opportunity,  but  to  live  to  get 
some  one  else  saved.  God  was  pleased  to 
answer  prayer  and  raised  up  my  dear 
brother,  and  he  is  now  preaching  the  gos¬ 
pel  in  Los  Angelos.  It  was  not  long  be¬ 
fore  I  was  at  work  winning  souls,  and  the 
first  one  God  gave  me  was  one  of  my 
greatest  friends. 

Since  then  it  has  been  the  joy  and  bus¬ 
iness  of  my  life. 

if,  A 

MONDAY,  DEC.  28. 

STCPIIEN  AND  DARNABAS,  OR 
FAITH  AND  ROWER.  FROM 
ON  HIGH. 

liy  nicv.  T.  O.  EASTON,  Wnsliliiploii,  I).  C. 

Acts  vi.  .5-8;  xi.  22-24. 

Stephen  and  Barnabas  were  two  of  the 
noblest  characters  that  adorned  the  infant 


Christian  church.  They  have  left  a 
splendid  record  for  the  study  of  the 
church  in  all  ages.  Both  were  young 
men  when  converted  and  accomplished  a 
glorious  work  for  our  Lord  and  Master, 
then  fell  asleep  in  death! 

We  enter  upon  the  study  of  these  two 
young  men  to  grasp  if  we  can  the  quality 
of  their  piety  as  constituting  the  secret  of 
their  power  in  the  primitive  church. 
Among  the  great  natural  gifts  possessed 
by  these  young  men  were  learning  and  el¬ 
oquence.  God  richly  freighted  them 
with  these  wonderful  powers  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  defending  the  faith  before  the 
Sanhedrim.  But  mere  eloquence  and 
profound  education  are  not  enough,  and 
if  this  had  been  all  then  they  would  have 
swayed  no  power  over  the  hearts  of  men! 
Human  wisdom,  unattended  by  the  di¬ 
vine  baptism,  is  a  poor  armor  for  a  Chris¬ 
tian  warrior.  It  is  like  a  grand  piece  of 
modern  machinery  without  the  motive 
power  of  steam! 

But  there  were  supernatural  gifts,  for 
both  these  young  heroes  were  “full  of 
faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost.”  This  was 
the  root  of  all  their  courage,  zeal,  fervor, 
enthusiastic  heroism  and  devotion  to 
their  crucified  Lord  and  Redeemer!  In¬ 
timacy  with  the  risen  and  glorified  Christ 
made  their  love  for  Him  a  quenchless 
flame  of  enthusiasm. 

From  these  two  typical  persons — Steph¬ 
en  and  Barnabas — we  learn  this  one  great 
central  fact,  that  when  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  the  Holy  Ghost,  comes  into  the  hu¬ 
man  heart  to  begin  as  the  wise  master 
builder  the  construction  of  character — a 
character  that  is  to  reach  as  high  as  the 
throne  of  God- — He  first  lays  deep  and 
solid  the  foundation  stones  of  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ!  Faith  in  God  siqqiorts 
the  whole  siqicrstnicture  of  a  Christlike 
character! 

Let  us  not  fail  to  mark  that  word — full, 
pleres — fulness  plcroma:  replete  and  over¬ 
flowing,  filled  completely.  We  arc  not 
to  be  ]iartly  filled,  hut  eui.t,  of  faith  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.  That  tlie  Holy  Ghost 
will  not  keep  company  with  uuhelief  and 
sin.  This,  verily,  is  the  great  mistake  of 
modern  Christianity,  that  so  niauv  in  all 
our  churches  are  trying  to  live  a  half-and- 
half  life — half  world  filled  and  half  spirit 
filled  life. 


22 


CIIIUSTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


Consider  1.  The  Nature  of  Faith.  2. 
The  Repose  of  Faith.  3d.  The  Unity  of 
Faith.  4th.  The  Power  of  Faith. 

I. — The  Nature  of  Faith. 

First  of  all,  then,  Faith  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  its  author.  It  may  be  called 
the  manifestation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  life 
and  power  in  the  heart.  The  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  word  for  Faith  is  “^‘Aman,”  from 
which  we  get  our  word  “Amen,”  which 
signifies  steadfastness.  The  new  Testa¬ 
ment  word  is  “pistis,”  which  means  trust 
and  confidence.  The  two  put  together 
complete  each  other  and  become  stead¬ 
fast  trust,  abiding  confidence  in  God,  the 
sheet  anchor  of  the  tempest-tossed  soul! 
Faith  is  the  friend  of  reason  and  is  never 
unreasonable,  although  it  runs  with  swift¬ 
ness,  while  reason  may  plod  along.  Rea¬ 
son  can  only  wade,  while  faith  can  swim 
oceans. 

Faith  is  both  microscopic  and  telescopic. 
It  can  discover  the  hidden  things  of  the 
heart  and  sweep  the  horizon  of  whole 
eternities.  Jesus  teaches  us  that  faith  is 
the  beginning  of  the  new  life  in  Himself, 
the  condition  of  power  with  God  to  re¬ 
move  mountains,  receive  healing  and  spir¬ 
itual  blessings.  He  gave  us  the  best  il¬ 
lustration  of  faith  by  placing  a  little  child 
in  the  midst  of  his  hearers  and  com¬ 
mended  the  child-like  spirit  of  absolute 
confidence  in  the  Father.  The  charac¬ 
teristic  of  faith  is  not  self-sufficiency — 
not  parade  of  our  righteousness — but 
truthfulness,  receptivity,  affection,  will¬ 
ingness  to  submit  to  discipline,  imitative¬ 
ness,  innocence  and  readiness  to  receive 
instruction  and  care!  How  believing  is  a 
little  child,  unconsciously  under  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and,  Oh,  it 
is  sad  that  childhood’s  sweet  faith,  so 
trusting  and  beautifully  simple,  must  be 
shattered  by  contact  with  the  deceitful 
world,  and  then  the  hard  lesson  of  trust 
re-learned  through  years  of  trial  and  sor¬ 
row! 

II. — The  Repose  of  Faith. 

We  must  have  both  faith  in  God  and 
faith  in  our  faith.  Our  faith  must  rest 
externally  upon  the  fact  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  not  internally  upon  our  experi¬ 
mental  knowledge  of  Christ  dwelling 
within  the  heart.  We  cannot  pin  our 


faith  to  anything  but  the  promises  of 
God,  and  thus  believing  we  shall  enter  in¬ 
to  rest  even  amid  this  world’s  ceaseless 
trials  and  conflicts,  building  upon  the  one 
foundation — Christ!  What  then  is  the 
supreme  repose  of  our  faith?  What  is  the 
great  basic  fact  upon  which  we  build  the 
structure  of  a  holy  character?  Where  do 
we  rest  our  hopes  of  eternal  life?  The 
resurrection  is  to  the  whole  system  of 
Christian  thought  what  the  keystone  is  to 
the  arch.  By  the  resurrection  we  have 
full  assurance  of  a  complete  atonement 
and  a  salvation  that  reaches  to  the  utter¬ 
most  and  secures  the  believer’s  entire 
sanctification!  Wholly  sanctified  simply 
means  to  be  wholly  the  Lord’s.  When 
faith,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  claims 
this  blessing  and  confidently  reposes  upon 
the  truth  that  the  blood  cleanses  from  all 
sin  and  sweetly  and  peacefully  reposes  as 
the  beloved  disciple  upon  the  bosom  of 
his  Lord,  then  is  experienced  that  “rest  of 
faith”  that  calms  us  in  all  the  dangers 
and  trials  of  life,  and  affords  the  sweetest 
rest  in  the  midst  of  its  turmoils!  Oh, 
that  the  church  could  come  up  to  her  ex¬ 
alted  privilege  and  know  the  infinite 
peace  that  abides  in  the  soul  when  by  an 
entire  consecration  the  believer  finds  this 
absolute  rest  of  a  sanctified  will  and  over 
whose  life  is  written  “Holiness  unto  the 
Lord,”  then  would  the  peevish  frettings 
and  worry,  the  incessant  and  corroding 
cares,  the  frowning  fears  and  doubts,  all 
surrender  to  the  repose  of  faith!  Into  this 
Canaan  of  perfect  rest  would  the  Holy 
Ghost  lead  every  one  of  Christ’s  flock. 
“It  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sancti¬ 
fication,”  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  praying  in 
the  heart  of  the  apostle,  voiced  this  peti¬ 
tion,  “And  the  God  of  peace  himself  sanc¬ 
tify  you  wholly,  and  may  your  spirit  and 
soul  and  body  be  preserved  entire  without 
blame  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.”  Faithful  is  He  that  calleth  you, 
who  will  also  do  it!  Say  not  that  this 
higher  life  in  Christ  is  a  dream — a  vagary 
of  fanatical  minds — some  ecstatic  condi¬ 
tion  reserved  only  for  some  elect  few,  as 
unattainable  to  the  great  sacramental 
host.  What  God  wills  to  do  for  one  He 
can  do  for  all! 

God  wills  that  I  should  holy  be. 

What  can  withstand  His  will? 

The  council  of  His  grace  in  me 

He  surely  shall  fumll! 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


23 


III.  — The  Unity  of  Faith. 

Faith  like  a  scarlet  thread  runs  through 
all  the  Bible.  As  the  blood  of  Christ  is 
sprinkled  through  all  its  pages,  so  faith 
in  that  blood  is  everywhere  inculcated. 
J ust  as  in  proportion  we  keep  the  unity  of 
the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  we  shall 
keep  the  unity  of  that  faith  inwrought  by 
the  tioly  Ghost!  Paul  exhorted  the  Ephe¬ 
sians  to  work  for  the  edifying  of  the  body 
of  Christ  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of 
the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God  into  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  meas¬ 
ure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ.”  This,  Paul  termed  “the  per¬ 
fecting  of  the  saints.”  What  an  achieve¬ 
ment  is  here  presented — a  unified  faith, 
and  the  church  holding  the  unity  of  the 
faith  in  the  bond  of  peace.  Paul  declares 
that  he  and  his  followers  held  that  same 
spirit  of  faith,  and  it  enabled  the  martyrs 
and  heroes  of  the  olden  time  to  endure  as 
seeing  the  invisible,  and  it  is  having  “like 
precious  faith”  that  brings  us  into  com¬ 
munion  with  the  saints  of  all  ages  and 
makes  us  one  in  Christ!  We  are  by  the 
unity  of  faith  one  with  the  believers  who 
lived  before  the  Incarnation,  who  be¬ 
lieved  in  the  Saviour  to  come,  and  one 
with  all  who  build  upon  that  eternal  rock, 
since  He  cried  with  the  loud  voice  on  Cal¬ 
vary.  “It  is  finished.” 

Men  are  born  and  die,  generations  come 
and  go,  but  this  faith  in  the  Christ  sur¬ 
vives,  and,  like  Tennyson’s  brook,  it  “goes 
on  forever!” 

IV.  — The  Power  of  Faith. 

Faith  is  fullness  of  life  in  Christ,  and, 

therefore,  manifests  itself  in  power,  yea, 
in  the  mightiest  of  all  power!  It  was  the 
prayer  of  the  apostolic  servants  of  God 
that  the  early  church  might  be  strength¬ 
ened  with  all  might,  according  to  his  glo¬ 
rious  power.  Power,  dunamis,  from  which 
we  have  our  modern  word  dynamo,  that 
tremendous  power  that  moves  great  ma¬ 
chinery,  transports  great  trains  and  is  or¬ 
dained  to  revolutionize  in  the  Twentieth 
Century  all  our  system  of  motive  power. 
Dynamite,  that  awful  explosive  that  can 
rend  mountains  and  lay  in  ruins  gigantic 
buildings  and  break  the  grandest,  tower¬ 
ing  shafts  of  solid  masonry!  Dynamite, 
the  Satanic  weapon  of  the  Anarchist  to 
destroy  the  grandest  institutions  of  our 


Republic  and  level  in  utter  destruction 
the  most  imposing  buildings  that  Ameri¬ 
can  wealth  and  genius  can  construct! 
Now,  then,  faith  is  God’s  dynamite! 
Faith,  with  the  Holy  Ghost  behind  it,  can 
level  the  most  imposing,  firmly  buttressed 
and  heavy  institutions  of  iniquity!  Let 
us  not  discount  the  promises  of  an  en¬ 
throned  Christ,  but  take  them  at  par! 
There  is  one  promise  given  by  the  Christ 
which  never  was  recalled,  never  can¬ 
celed  nor  withdrawn  from  the  disci¬ 
ples  of  the  present  period.  Hear  it,  be¬ 
lieve  it,  if  ye  would  have  power!  “The 
works  that  I  do  shall  ye  do  also,  and 
greater  works  than  these  shall  ye  do  be¬ 
cause  I  go  unto  the  Father.”  He  has 
gone  to  the  Father  and  sent  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  is  the  giver  of  all  power.  Ye 
shall  receive  power,  the  Holy  Ghost  com¬ 
ing  upon  you! 

The  church  lacks  power  because  she 
lacks  faith,  and  she  lacks  faith  be¬ 
cause  she  lacks  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy 
Ghost!  The  great  want  of  the  church  is, 
a  new  annointing  of  the  Holy  Ghost!  It 
is  not  greater  wealth,  greater  culture, 
greater  genius,  greater  reach  of  territory, 
greater  knowledge  of  science  or  phi¬ 
losophy,  but  we  need  greater  power  to 
cope  with  and  overthrow  the  gigantic  in¬ 
iquities  of  the  present  age.  That  power 
— the  spiritual  dynamite  of  the  church — 
is  the  Holy  Ghost!  Men  are  in  demand, 
men  like  Stephen  and  Barnabas,  humble 
they  may  be,  poor  they  may  be.  unlearned 
they  may  be,  but  men  of  God,  full  of 
faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost! 

Hallelujah!  the  resources  of  the  in 
finite  are  ours,  and  the  key  to  the  treas¬ 
ury  is  in  our  liands.  Will  we  turn  the 
lock?  We  are  urged  to  enter  by  the  King 
Himself,  saying  to  us,  “All  tilings  are 
yours,  whether  Paul  or  Ajiollos,  or  Ce¬ 
phas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or 
things  present,  or  things  to  come,  all  are 
yours  and  ye  are  Christ’s,  and  Christ  is 
God’s.” 

-4  4 

DWELLING  IN  THE  HOEIEST. 

I!y  uioy.  COItNEIUTTS  WOEEFKIN. 

Every  part  of  the  Hebrew  camp  was 
arranged  with  reference  to  the  presence 
ot  God.  There  were  three  sections  in  the 


24 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION 


ancient  tabernacle — the  court,  the  holy 
place  and  the  holy  of  holies,  and  each  of 
these,  among  other  typical  applications 
respecting  the  three  parts  of  our  being, 
body,  soul  and  spirit,  is  the  dwelling  place 
of  God. 

When  man  fell,  his  higher  nature  be¬ 
came  a  death  chamber.  In  regeneration 
the  spirit  is  made  alive,  and  its  organs 
and  functions  are  prepared  to  understand 
and  hold  communion  with  God.  The 
spiritual  ear  and  eye  and  touch  are  ad¬ 
justed  to  the  divine  presence.  It  is  in 
this  inner  chamber  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
dwells,  passing  through  it  to  the  soul  and 
body,  and  bringing  every  part  of  the  life 
into  adjustment  to  the  will  and  presence 
of  God. 

Now,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  into 
a  human  temple  there  comes  a  conflict. 
The  carnal  nature  resists  at  first  and 
afterward  tries  to  compromise.  The 
natural  man  will  do  anything  except  sub¬ 
mit  and  surrender  his  soul  and  body  and 
spirit  to  be  controlled  by  the  divine  will. 
When  we  wholly  yield  ourselves  to  God 
in  this  complete  surrender,  the  divine 
presence  entirely  controls  our  being,  and 
we  are  fully  sanctified.  Then  our  whole 
life  is  pervaded  with  the  divine  influence. 
All  things  are  sacred;  our  food  and  dress 
and  our  business  are  all  subject  to  God’s 
will,  and  “  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatsoever  we  do,  we  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God.” 

In  the  prophecies  of  Zachariah  we 
read  of  a  time  when  every  pot  and  kettle 
and  every  equipage  and  carriage  in 
Jerusalem  should  be  as  the  holiest  vessels 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  This,  doubt¬ 
less,  refers  to  the  consecration  of  our 
commercial  and  domestic  life. 

Now  we  are  to  become  patterns  of  this 
coming  glory.  We  are  called  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  the  day — that  is,  the  children  of 
the  coming  age.  We  are  to  be  specimens 
in  this  generation  of  what  God  will  do 
in  the  next.  All  we  are  and  do  is  to  be¬ 
come  sacred  by  the  presence  of  God,  and 
our  whole  being  scintillate  and  coruscate 
heavenly  light  in  a  dark  world. 

The  Holy  Ghost  brings  us  into  the  full¬ 
ness  of  this  life  through  the  Word  of  God, 
but  it  is  only  that  portion  of  the  Word  of 
God  which  is  engrafted  into  us  which  be¬ 
comes  efiectual  and  fruitful.  Shall  we 


receive  with  meakness  the  engrafted 
Word,  and  grow  up  into  Him  in  all 
things?  It  is  our  privilege  to  be  lifted 
into  a  place  where  we  shall  be  conscious 
of  things  unutterable,  and  shall  know  not 
only  the  groanings  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
but  the  unspeakable  joys  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son. 

Now,  how  shall  we  enter  into  this? 
Just  as  simply  and  definitely  as  we  enter 
into  salvation.  Just  as  the  sinner  must 
yield  himself  to  Christ,  so  the  Christian 
must  yield  himself  to  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
this  full  salvation.  Then  we  shall  get  into 
cur  right  attitude;  not  attempting  to  do 
something  for  God,  but  so  presenting 
ourselves  to  God  that  He  can  fill  us  and 
use  us  according  to  His  good  pleasure. 
This  is  true  service. 

When  you  employ  a  boy  to  carry  your 
messages  and  run  your  errands  you  do 
not  always  keep  him  running.  Some¬ 
times  you  keep  him  standing  or  sitting 
for  hours  together  waiting  for  the  next 
order,  but  you  pay  him  not  only  for  the 
tim.e  he  spends  in  running  but  for  the 
time  he  spent  in  sitting  or  standing  for 
your  next  command.  If  he  is  idle,  it  is 
your  business.  And  so  our  part  is  to  let 
God  use  us,  whether  it  be  our  silence  or 
our  speech,  and  to  lie  content  at  His  feet, 
knowing  that  “  they  also  serve  who  only 
stand  and  wait.” 

*  *  A 

THE  SPIRIT-FILLED  LIFE. 

Bj-  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON.  D.D. 

The  best  evidence  of  a  Spirit-filled  life 
is  the  displacement  of  everything  else;, 
even  the  consciousness  of  the  blessing.  A 
man  of  great  spiritual  power  told  me  how 
once,  when  he  was  speaking  in  the  power 
of  the  Spirit,  it  suddenly  flashed  upon 
him,  “I  am  speaking  with  great  spiritual 
power,”  and  instantly  it  all  left  him. 
There  are  some  of  us  who  once  took  great 
delight  in  collecting  high  thoughts  and 
winning  the  applause  of  men,  but  all  this 
and  must  have  her  special  annoited  sons 
and  daughters!  Oh,  give  the  church  men 
must  be  counted  loss,  for  the  excellency 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus.  The 
personal  indwelling  of  God  through  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  believer,  as  in  a  tern- 


CIIKISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


25 


pie,  is  the  greatest  thought  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  only  real  house  that 
God  can  take  pleasure  in  is  the  temple  of 
a  believing  soul.  There  are  seven  truths 
connected  with  this,  namely: — 

1.  Inhabitation  for  God  where  lie 
dwells,  personally,  in  the  consecrated  dis¬ 
ciple. 

2.  Kevelation,  for  He  manifests  Him¬ 
self  and  reveals  the  truth  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  and  the  light  of  God’s  presence  to 
the  spiritual  mind. 

3.  Interpretation.  Making  clearly  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures 
and  the  will  of  God. 

4.  Sanctification,  that  allowing  not 
only  of  spirit,  soul  and  body,  but  of  all 
things  we  touch. 

5.  Transfiguration.  The  outshining 
of  the  glory  of  God. 

6.  Power  and  divine  efficiency  in  our 
work. 

7.  Glorification.  The  beginning  al¬ 
ready  and  the  foretaste  of  the  glory  to 
come. 

There  is  a  text  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Ephesians,  verse  18,  which  is  an  imbed¬ 
ding  and  comprehensive  picture  of  the 
Spirit-filled  life,  and  the  whole  passage  is 
the  most  perfect  expression  of  such  a  life 
that  I  know  of  anywhere  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures.  The  passage  commences  with  the 
fourteenth  verse,  which  really  describes 
the  sunrise  of  the  Spirit  in  the  believer’s 
life.  “Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and 
arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give 
thee  light.”  The  light  is  really  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  verses  that  follow  describe 
the  effects  of  being  filled  with  the  Spirit. 

First — It  will  produce  a  circumspect 
walk  (verse  15).  Things  that  once 
seemed  right  will  become  doubtful  to  tbe 
awakened  conscience.  Things  that  were 
lawful  will  be  found  inexpedient,  and  in¬ 
stead  of  seeking  to  please  ourselves  wo 
will  watch  more  carefully  and  seek  to 
please  God  and  help  others  in  all  things. 
As  you  have  seen  a  cat  walking  on  the  top 
of  a  wall  covered  with  broken  glass,  pick¬ 
ing  her  footsteps  most  carefully,  so  the 
Spirit-filled  believer  walks  through  a  dan¬ 
gerous  world,  guarding  against  stumbling 
blocks  and  watching  in  all  things. 

Second — The  redeeming  of  opportuni¬ 
ties  is  another  fruit  of  the  Spirit-filled 
life  (verso  IG).  Tbe  idea  is,  that  every 


time  we  lose  an  opportunity  it  costs  us 
more  next  time  to  recover  it,  and  the 
Spirit-filled  man  will  eagerly  seize  the  op¬ 
portunity  before  it  goes  and  avail  himself 
of  every  possible  means  to  glorify  God 
and  save  and  help  mortal  souls. 

Third — An  intelligent  understanding 
of  the  will  of  God  (verse  17).  God  has 
promised  to  guide  the  meek  in  judgment, 
and  the  Spirit-filled  man  will  understand 
His  will  and  will  subordinate  all  his  plans 
to  God’s  plans  for  him.  A  great  many 
people  make  up  their  minds  and  then 
they  ask  God  to  help  them.  They  are  like 
a  man  pushing  a  wheelbarrow  ahead  of 
him  and  saying  he  is  led  by  the  wheel¬ 
barrow. 

Fourth — The  displacement  of  the  lower 
by  the  higher  (verie  18).  Wine,  here, 
represents  the  coarser  pleasures  of  the 
flesh  and  the  mind.  God  does  not  re¬ 
quire  us  to  renounce  these  things,  but  he 
wants  to  displace  them  by  something  bet¬ 
ter.  “Can  I  dance?”  is  so  often  asked.  “Do 
you  want  to?”  is  my  answer.  Can  you  un¬ 
derstand  a  child  of  God  filled  with  the 
Spirit  wanting  to  dance  or  go  to  the  thea¬ 
tre?  His  tastes  and  preferences  are  lifted 
higher  by  something  better;  like  the  stage 
driver  who  told  Dr.  Chalmers  that  once 
his  skittish  horses  came  to  a  place  in  the 
road  where  they  were  used  to  shy,  and  he 
struck  them  a  sharp  lash  with  tlie  whip 
to  give  them  something  to  think  about. 
Dr.  Chalmers  went  home  and  wrote  his 
sermon  on  the  expulsive  j)ower  of  a  new 
vision.  There  is  no  stronger  evidence 
that  you  are  not  filled  with  tlie  Spirit 
than  that  you  have  a  conflict  with  your 
lower  passions  and  your  sensual  nature. 

Fifth — Spiritual  worship  is  another  ev¬ 
idence  of  being  filled  with  the  Spirit 
(verse  It)).  This  singing  is  not  to  man 
but  to  the  Lord.  In  tlie  Helirew  ’bab- 
ernaclc  every  principle  of  art  was  vio¬ 
lated.  What  God  wanted  was  worshij) 
directly  to  Himself.  We  are  told  that 
Ahaz  wont  to  Damascus  and  found  an 
altar,  which  he  purchased  and  brought  in¬ 
to  the  Tabernacle  in  Jerusalem;  but  God 
went  out.  ddiis  is  what  the  church  is 
doing  to-day;  it  is  jmtting  a  Damascus 
altar  in  the  house  of  God.  It  is  building 
the  highest  spire  and  having  the  biggest 
debt,  but  Christ  is  not  there. 

Mendelssohn,  the  great  comiioser,  once 


26 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


visited  Freiburg  Cathedral  and  asked  per¬ 
mission  to  play  on  the  organ,  but  the  cus¬ 
todian  refused.  At  last,  after  much  en¬ 
treaty,  he  consented  to  let  him  touch  it, 
but  when  Mendelssohn  began  to  play  the 
old  man,  who  was  also  the  organist,  burst 
into  tears  and  asked  him  for  his  name. 
When  he  heard  who  it  was  he  wept 
afresh  and  said,  “Only  to  think!  I  had  al¬ 
most  forbidden  Mendelssohn  to  touch  my 
organ.”  And  so,  alas,  Christ,  the  proprie¬ 
tor  of  His  church,  is  scarcely  welcome  to 
its  altar,  and  the  very  sanctuary  of  God 
has  become  the  synagogue  of  Satan  and 
the  world. 

Sixth— Humility  is  the  crowning  evi¬ 
dence  of  a  Spirit-filled  life  (verse  21). 
“Submitting  yourselves  one  to  another  in 
the  fear  of  God.”  Humility  is  the  beau¬ 
ty  of  holiness  and  the  ornament  in  which 
God  takes  delight.  The  crmvn  of  humil¬ 
ity  is  to  be  unconscious  of  its  own  humil¬ 
ity.  God  wants  us  to  be  like  the  gard¬ 
ener’s  trellis,  where  the  vine  grows  above 
the  trellis,  and  for  a  moment  thinks,  per- 
standard,  but,  lo,  the  next  morning  the 
gardener  adds  several  new  bars  to  the 
trellis,  and,  lo,  the  plant  finds  it  is  not 
half  way  up,  but,  instead  of  being  dis- 
courged,  it  just  pushes  out  to  the  higher 
standard  and  climbs  twice  as  high  again. 
And  so,  as  we  go  on  in  the  Christian  life 
we  will  think  less  of  ourselves,  not  be¬ 
cause  we  are  less,  but  because  the  stand¬ 
ard  has  been  lifted  higher,  and  it  will  be 
so  to  the  end,  from  the  depths  to  the 
heights.  “He  must  increase  but  I  must 
decrease.” 


TUESDAY.  DEC.  29. 

FOEMS  OF  THE  SELF  LIFE. 

By  PRES.  BLANCHARD,  of  Wheaton  College.  III. 

There  are  few  Christians  and  few  min¬ 
isters  of  Christ  who  are  not  willing  to  ad¬ 
mit  that  there  is  failure  somewhere  in 
their  lives,  but  there  are  still  fewer  who 
have  discovered  that  the  cause  of  it  is 
almost  always  to  be  found  in  some  form 
of  the  self  life.  Talking  once  to  a  man 


who  kejit  a  disorderly  house,  I  said,  “How 
can  you  be  engaged  in  such  a  business? 
Why  don’t  you  get  out  of  it?”  “  Oh,” 
he  said,  “  1  often  wish  I  could,  but  the 
truth  is,  there  is  too  much  money  in  it.” 
That  is  the  coarser  form,  but  it  is  in  its 
more  subtle  phase.  It  is  the  lurking  foe 
that  puts  to  sleep  the  great  majoritv  of 
Christians  and  prevents  their  lifting  a 
finger,  or  speaking  a  word  to  save  a  fellow 
man,  and  that  silences  the  tongues  of 
thousands  of  preachers  of  the  gospel  who 
dare  not  speak  the  whole  truth  to  covet¬ 
ous  and  compromising  men  in  their  audi¬ 
ences,  whom  they  fear  too  often,  and 
wEose  sins  they  feebly  excuse,  because 
they  like  the  nice  society  and  the  abund¬ 
ant  salary,  and  the  large  and  fashionable 
church;  and  they  languidly  say  to  them¬ 
selves,  “  What  is  the  use?  If  I  went  to 
another  church  I  would  find  it  just  the 
same,  and  so  I  just  let  things  alone  and  do 
the  best  I  can.” 

How  may  we  be  delivered  from  the 
power  of  Self? 

First — We  must  be  saved  from  it  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus  and  enter  into  the  real 
meaning  of  His  cross  so  that  we  truly  die 
with  Him  to  all  our  rights  and  all  our 
strength. 

Second — The  example  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Our  life  is  to  be  the  reproduction  of  His. 
“  As  my  Father  hath  sent  ]\Ie,  even  so 
send  I  you.”  Christ  lived  in  this  world 
for  no  selfish  end.  He  was  here  as  a 
stranger  simply  to  represent  His  Father, 
and  save  men,  and  all  His  personal  hopes 
lay  beyond  it.  This  is  the  true  spirit  of 
His  disciples.  “  Let  this  mind  be  in  you, 
which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus:  who,  being 
in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  a  thing 
to  be  eagerly  grasped,  that  He  should  be 
equal  with  God:  but  made  Himself  of  no 
reputation,  and  took  upon  Him  the  form 
of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men:  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a 
man,  He  humbled  Himself,  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  cross.  Wlierefore  God  also  hath  high¬ 
ly  exalted  Him,  and  given  Him  a  name 
which  is  above  every  name:  that  at  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of 
things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and 
things  under  the  earth;  and  that  everv 
tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.” 


CHUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


27 


FAITH  AND  LOVE  AS  INCENTIVES 
TO  SERVICE. 

By  KEY.  A.  T.  PIEUSON.  D.D. 

Faith  and  love  are  the  two  great  springs 
■of  holy  action.  Faith  has  direct  reference 
to  God;  love  to  both  God  and  man.  Faith 
supplies  the  impulse  of  service;  love  sup¬ 
plies  both  the  impulse  and  the  object. 

Love  is  of  two  kinds — the  love  of  com¬ 
placency  and  the  love  of  benevolence.  The 
love  of  complacency  dwells  on  the  lovable 
traits  in  others,  but  the  love  of  benevo¬ 
lence  loves  most  abundantly  where  there 
is  no  merit.  The  love  of  complacency  re¬ 
ceives;  the  love  of  benevolence  gives.  The 
child  of  God  draws  from  God  by  the  love 
of  complacency  the  power  to  give  it  to 
man  by  the  love  of  benevolence.  Man’s 
misery  was  the  magnet  that  drew  Him 
from  the  skies,  but  after  we  become  His 
children.  He  is  able  to  give  to  us  the  love 
of  complacency.  There  is  a  kind  of  benev¬ 
olence  toward  man  without  faith  in  God. 
This  is  not  Divine  love.  In  God’s  eye, 
there  is  no  true  service  which  does  not 
combine  both  faith  toward  God  and  love 
toward  man.  True  faith  in  God  leads  to 
true  love  toward  man. 

Faith  and  love  are  the  right  and  left 
arms  of  service.  We  need  to  go  forth  to 
help  our  fellow-men,  strong  in  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  our  union  with  our  Master, 
and  sure  that  God  is  on  our  side.  The  true 
servant  must  be  loyal  to  God  and  know 
that  God  is  loyal  to  him.  We  ought  to  be 
such  men  and  women  that  God  can  trust, 
and  we  need  to  be  absolutely  certain  that 
God  has  put  us  where  we  are  and  sent  us 
forth  to  our  work;  and  then  we  shall  stand 
through  good  and  ill  report.  And  we  must 
go  forth  to  our  work  with  a  love  that 
springs  from  something  in  us,  rather  than 
from  anything  from  those  whom  we  seek 
to  help  and  bless.  This  love  will  make 
all  service  delightful.  It  will  give  wings 
to  the  flight  of  time;  it  will  lighten  every 
labor  and  it  will  make  every  sacrifice 
sweet.  The  history  of  the  church  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  full  of  illustrations  of  these  prin¬ 
ciples. 

Mrs.  Dr.  Grant  went  as  a  missionary  to 
Persia  at  twenty-one.  She  died  at  twenty- 
five,  but  in  those  four  years  she  attracted 
to  herself  an  admiration  and  love  that 


almost  arose  to  the  height  of  adoration, 
and  when  she  died  they  dug  up  the  very 
pavements  of  one  of  their  ancient  sanc¬ 
tuaries  and  buried  her  there. 

The  three  Mrs.  Judsons,  of  Burmah, 
were  such  examples.  Judson’s  first  wife 
used  to  go  month  after  month  to  the  pris¬ 
on  yard  to  minister  to  her  suffering  hus¬ 
band,  and  if  she  could  not  get  near  him 
to  cheer  his  heart,  she  would  at  least  by  a 
smile  or  look  of  love.  The  natives  seemed 
to  think  of  her  as  an  angel  that  had 
crossed  their  path,  and  kissed  the  very 
shadow  that  she  cast  in  passing. 

Robert  Morrison’s  was  such  a  life.  Going 
to  China  in  its  midnight  darkness  and 
waiting  a  quarter  of  a  century  outside  the 
gates  at  Canton,  studying  the  language 
and  lighting  the  first  lamp  of  truth  and 
life  that  is  now  multiplied  into  tens  of 
thousands  of  converted  souls  and  conse¬ 
crated  lives. 

Dr.  Livingston  was,  perhaps,  the 
noblest  sample  of  love  to  God  and  man 
this  century  has  produced.  A  few  months 
ago  I  had  the  privilege  of  looking  at  the 
old  factory  where  he  used  to  work  at  his 
loom  and  at  the  same  time  study  some 
books  of  instruction  that  were  to  prepare 
him  for  his  future  work;  sacrificing  every 
earthly  ambition  to  the  one  ambition  of 
his  life — to  save  Africa.  He  buried  his 
noble  wife  under  a  baobab  tree  on  the 
Zambezi,  and  went  into  the  depths  of  Af¬ 
rica  for  fifteen  months,  without  a  word  of 
communication  with  the  world  beyond, 
and  when  at  last  found  by  Stanley,  sick 
and  worn,  he  was  invited  to  come  back 
with  the  explorer,  but  he  refused  and 
went  forth  again  to  his  lone  and  danger¬ 
ous  task;  and  when  at  last  he  died  o.i  his 
knees  in  a  little  hut  in  the  centre  of  the 
Dark  Continent,  the  two  faithful  natives 
who  had  learned  to  love  and  reverence 
their  master,  stole  in  and  found  that  he 
was  really  dead,  and,  without  any  knowl¬ 
edge  of  embalming,  or  any  jirospect  of 
human  reward,  they  took  his  body,  first 
cutting  out  his  heart  and  burying  it  in 
Africa,  and  then  they  dried  it  in  the  sun, 
and  tried  to  preserve  it  in  alcohol,  and 
wrapping  it  in  canvas  carried  it  on  their 
shoulders  1,500  miles  to  the  sea  that  they 
might  bear  it  to  those  that  loved  him. 
Many  times  they  were  met  by  hostile 
tribes,  and  often  they  bad  to  hide  in  the 


28 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


woods  aud  cover  it  with  leaves  or  conceal 
it  amid  bales  of  cloth,  and  so  difficult  was 
their  task  that  even  after  the  body  was 
brought  to  England  few  would  believe 
that  it  was  really  Livingston’s  until  it 
was  examined  by  those  who  knew  him  per¬ 
fectly,  and  the  very  marks  of  the  lion’s 
teeth  were  found  upon  his  arm.  The  body 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and 
those  noble  black  men  stood  among  the 
loftiest  names  of  England,  honored  by  the 
world  for  the  highest  nobility  of  charac¬ 
ter,  and  yet  reflecting  the  higher  honor  of 
the  noble  missionary  who  had  the  power 
so  to  win  their  love. 

Another  example  was  the  heroic  Gen. 
Gordon.  With  a  mighty  faith  in  God 
and  a  yet  larger  love  to  man,  he  honored 
the  profession  of  a  soldier  and  a  states¬ 
man  by  the  higher  qualities  of  a  Christlike 
Christian.  He  stood  in  the  presence  of 
King  John  of  Abyssinia  and  dared  to  tell 
him  his  faults,  and  when  the  proud  mon¬ 
arch  threatened  him,  he  said  that  he  had 
no  fear  of  death,  for  it  would  only  bring 
him  the  quicker  into  the  presence  of  his 
Lord.  There  was  no  motive  of  either 
earthly  hope  or  fear  that  could  swerve  him 
a  hair  line  from  the  inexorable  path  of 
right.  He  refused  to  be  lionized  or  honored 
for  his  work,  and  when  the  Chinese  gave 
him  a  memorial  medal  for  his  invaluable 
services  to  them  it  was  found  shortly  af¬ 
terwards  that  he  had  sent  it  home  to  Man¬ 
chester  to  be  melted  down  and  the  money 
given  to  the  poor.  Surrounded  with  lux¬ 
ury,  he  never  partook  of  it.  A  visitor  once, 
having  come  to  dine  with  him,  was  sur¬ 
prised  to  find  him  taking  only  a  little 
bread  and  tea,  and  he  excused  himself  by 
saying:  “  It  wont  make  any  difference  in 
half  an  hour.”  Left  unsupported  in  the 
dark  Soudan  to  die  alone,  in  the  siege  of 
Khartoum,his  one  supreme  concern  to  the 
last  was  to  administer  to  the  men  around 
him  and  to  be  true  to  God  and  his 
country. 

For  such  lives  there  is  a  glorious  rec¬ 
ompense.  We  may  be  saved  by  grace,  but 
there  is  far  more  than  this  for  the  life  that 
is  true.  God  has  given  to  each  of  us  the 
opportunity  of  winning  a  crown  and  re¬ 
ceiving  a  reward,  and  it  is  just  as  true  that 
he  that  doeth  wrong  shall  receive  for  the 
wrong  that  he  hath  done.  Our  lives  are 
telling  every  moment  for  the  age  to  come. 


and  some  day  we  would  give  worlds  to  be 
able  to  stand  once  more  upon  this  earthly 
theatre  of  faith  and  love  and  be  able  to 
sacrifice  and  serve. 

*  *  « 

WEDNESDAY,  DEC.  30. 

EEEILS  OF  THE  MODEEN  CHUECH. 

By  REV.  A.  B.  SIMPSON. 

God  has  given  us  in  His  own  Word  an 
unerring  outline  of  the  dangers  that 
were  to  threaten  the  church  of  Christ 
through  all  the  ages.  In  the  last  mes¬ 
sage  of  the  ascended  Lord,  through  the 
Apostle  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  we  have 
seven  letters  to  certain  churches  in  Asia,, 
which,  undoubtedly,  represent  the  vari¬ 
ous  stages  of  the  visible  church  to  the  end 
of  the  Christian  age.  Two  of  these 
churches  are  blameless,  but  five  of  them 
are  solemnly  warned,  and  severely  re¬ 
proved,  and  in  the  picture  given  of  their 
perils  and  failures  we  may  see,  as  in  a 
mirror,  our  own  dangers. 

The  first  is  the  church  in  Ephesus, 
whose  peril  was  orthodoxy  and  activity 
without  supreme  love  to  Christ.  Ephesus 
had  a  perfect  creed  and  plenty  of  w'orks, 
and  the  last  were  more  than  the  first,  but 
she  had  left  her  first  love,  that  is,  her  su¬ 
preme  love  that  put  Jesus  first. 

The  next  was  the  church  in  Pergamos, 
which  represents  the  spirit  of  compro¬ 
mise  with  the  Word,  the  error  of  Balaam, 
the  mixing  of  Israel  with  the  Canaanites. 
This  last  has  ever  been  the  danger  of 
Christianity,  and  it  never  was  so  terrible 
as  it  is  to-day. 

The  third  is  the  church  in  Thyatira, 
representing  “  the  depths  of  Satan,”  the 
subtleties  of  false  teaching,  the  seductions 
of  Jezebel,  the  errors  of  the  Papacy,  the 
wicked  One  coming  as  an  angel  of  light 
in  pulpits  and  professors’  chairs,  and 
undermining  the  very  foundations  of 
truth  and  purity. 

The  fourth  was  the  church  in  Sardis, 
which  had  a  great  name,  but  was  dead, 
and  it  represents  the  boastful  and  appar¬ 
ently  successful  forms  of  Christian  life, 
with,  alas!  no  spiritual  life  or  power. 

Laodicea  represents  the  closing  chap¬ 
ter  of  church  histor\’,  and  the  picture  of 


CUltlSTMAS  OON VOCATION. 


29 


our  own  times.  It  is  a  church  witii 
Jesus  Christ  outside  knocking  for  ad¬ 
mission  to  His  own  temple.  It  is  a 
church  perfectly  satisfied  with  itself,  and 
boasting  of  its  riches  and  its  spiritual 
condition,  telling  of  the  number  of  its 
adherents,  and  pointing  to  the  magnifi¬ 
cence  of  its  sanctuaries  and  organization. 
13nt,  alas,  when  you  feel  its  pulse!  The 
Master  turns  away  with  loathing  and  dis¬ 
gust;  it  is  lukewarm,  it  is  spiritually  in¬ 
different,  it  is  given  over  to.  self-compla¬ 
cency,  luxury  and  respectability,  and 
the  Lord  is  just  about  to  say,  “Lo!  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.”  And  in 
the  next  verse  we  see  Him  standing  at  the 
door,  and  just  about  to  come  in  His  glor¬ 
ious  Advent,  and  the  solemn  heart -search¬ 
ing  judgment  of  His  unfaithful  people. 

These  are  the  perils  which  His  own 
wisdom  and  love  have  pointed  out.  God 
help  us  to  heed  that  whispered  caution 
that  thrills  every  sensitive  heart,  for,  alas! 
all  shall  not  heed  it. 

“He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what 
the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches.” 

*  *  * 

THE  DOWN  GRADE. 

By  Rev.  Robert  Cameron,  D.  D. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  Romans  we  have 
a  fearful  picture  of  the  departure  of  man 
from  God,  which  is  true  in  every  succes¬ 
sive  age.  Beecher  used  to  say  that  when 
man  fell  he  fell  upward,  and  that  he  had 
been  going  in  that  direction  ever  since. 
If  we  will  read  this  chapter,  and  the  story 
of  the  Lord  along  side  of  it  we  will  be 
disillusionized. 

We  find  three  steps  in  all  these  declen¬ 
sions.  First — Man  turning  away  from 
God.  Second — Man  turning  to  foolish 
and  blind  idolatry.  Third — Man  sinking 
into  the  basest  and  lowest  passions.  This 
was  fulfilled  in  ancient  Israel  under  the 
very  shadow  of  Mount  Sinai;  this  was  ful¬ 
filled  in  the  early  church;  this  is  being 
fulfilled  in  the  modern  church.  The  Ref¬ 
ormation  brought  much  light,  but  there 
were  many  things  that  it  failed  to  teach: 
The  doctrine  of  holiness,  the  hope  of  the 
Lord’s  personal  coming,  in  stojiping  short 
of  God’s  truth  in  its  fullness. 

Germany  has  gone  into  speculation,  and 
to-day  is  sinking  into  moral  rottenness. 


Our  own  land  began  in  the  rigid  piety  of 
our  I’uritan  ancestors,  and  George  Robin¬ 
son  said  before  he  died:  “  There  is  a 
greater  light  to  break  over  this  Book  than 
we  have  yet  seen.”  Alas!  instead  of  fol¬ 
lowing  this  Word,  New  England  has  fol¬ 
lowed  the  speculations  of  past  ages.  In¬ 
stead  of  letting  the  Word  of  God  sit  in 
judgment  on  them  men  have  been  sitting- 
in  judgment  on  the  Word  of  God,  and  as 
Dr.  Brookes  has  expressed  it,  it  has  be¬ 
come  a  footrace  with  the  devil  among  the 
college  presidents  and  theological  profes¬ 
sors  to  see  who  can  kick  the  old  Book  the 
farthest.  I  have  lived  in  New  England 
three  years,  and  I  have  been  sadly  unde¬ 
ceived.  The  wild  West  is  a  little  heaven 
to  some  of  the  things  that  I  know.  In  a 
single  town  not  very  far  from  Boston 
there  are  500  people  living  together  un¬ 
married  and  defying  the  laws  of  God  and 
man. 

In  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  Isaiah  God 
gives  the  progression  of  evil,  and  the 
downward  path  of  departure  from  Him. 
“Woe  to  them  that  go  down  to  Egypt  and 
take  counsel,  but  not  of  Me;  to  strengthen 
themselves  in  the  strength  of  Pharaoh, 
and  to  trust  in  the  shadow  of  Egypt! 
Therefore  shall  the  strength  of  Pharaoh 
be  your  shame,  and  the  trust  in  the  shad¬ 
ow  of  Egypt  your  confusion.”  The  world 
is  swamping  the  church.  It  is  a  good 
thing  to  have  the  ship  in  the  sea,  but  it  is 
a  very  different  thing  when  the  sea  gets 
into  the  ship,  and  that,  alas!  is  the  state 
of  things  to-day.  Turning  away  from  her 
Lord,  the  church  is  sinking  into  idle,  fool¬ 
ish,  human  speculations,  and  then  into 
the  idolatry  of  modern  covetousness,  and 
the  end  is  all  the  corruptions  and  debase¬ 
ments  which  in  these  last  days  have  al¬ 
ready  begun  to  put  Sodom  and  Gomorrah 
to  shame. 

♦  ♦ 

THE  GREAT  SPIRTTTIAI.  !\I()VK- 
MKNTS  OF  THE  CEN’I’IIKY. 

liy  UIOV.  A.  T.  lUKKSON.  I).l>. 

The  first  and  the  last  great  movement 
of  the  century  is  the  great  missionary 
awakening  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  Tdiis  work  dates  back  to  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  last  century,  when  a  little  club 
of  devoted  young  men  in  Eton  College, 


30 


OHIUSTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


Oxford.  Among  them  were  John  Wesley 
and  George  Whitfield.  Out  of  that  move¬ 
ment  grew  a  great  revival  of  spiritual  life 
in  the  last  century.  One  of  the  fruits  of 
this  movement  was  David  Brainerd,  and 
one  of  the  fruits  of  his  life  was  Jonathan 
Edwards,  the  most  saintly  man  that  has 
ever  lived  on  this  continent.  He  sent 
out  a  call  to  the  Christian  world  to  meet 
everywhere  and  pray  for  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  William  Carey  repub¬ 
lished  this  call  in  1787,  and  a  few  years 
later  the  first  missionary  society  was 
formed,  and  Carey  was  sent  to  India  as 
his  first  missionary.  This  was  followed 
soon  after  by  the  organization  of  about 
twenty-two  missionary  societies,  and  the 
present  century  was  opened  by  a  simul¬ 
taneous  missionary  movement  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world,  on  the  part 
of  all  denominations  and  in  all  lands. 
The  century  has  been  marked  by  marvel¬ 
ous  providential  openings  for  the  Gospel 
in  almost  every  nation  of  the  world,  and 
it  is  closing  with  an  unparalleled  mis¬ 
sionary  advance  to  evangelize  the  world 
in  the  present  generation. 

In  the  middle  of  the  century  two  other 
movements  of  great  importance  arose. 
One  was  the  work  of  faith  of  George 
Mulle’'  of  Bristol.  He  started  out  with 
the  simple  object  of  demonstrating  to  the 
world  that  God  is  the  living  God,  and  the 
hearer  and  answerer  of  prayer.  Without 
a  solicitation  or  appeal,  this  apostolic 
saint  has  maintained  five  great  Orphan 
houses,  holding  between  two  or  three 
thousand  orphans, and  a  large  missionary 
work  in  various  countries,  for  which  he 
has  received,  directly  in  answer  to  prayer, 
more  than  thirty-five  million  dollars,  and 
he  now  stands,  at  the  age  of  92,  like 
Moses,  with  eve  undimmed  and  vigor  un¬ 
impaired,  a  monument  for  the  promises 
of  God,  and  it  almost  seems  as  if  God 
had  preserved  him  alive  to  wait  for  his 
Master’s  coming,  and  to  meet  him,  like 
Enoch,  in  a  glorious  translation.  Mr. 
Muller’s  work  represents  a  large  amount 
of  faith,  work  in  various  forms  and  places. 

George  Williams  of  London  was  a 
plain  business  man  in  a  mercantile  house, 
and  he  saw  the  need  for  some  special 
work  for  young  men,  and  began  to 
gather  the  young  men  of  his  own  estab¬ 
lishment  about  him  for  Bible  study  and 
prayer.  This  led  to  similar  associations 


in  other  business  houses,  until  finally 
sixteen  of  these  clubs  met  in  Mr.  Will¬ 
iams’  house,  and  they  organized  the 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  out 
of  which  has  grown  an  organization  that 
covers  the  world,  and  which  has  given 
birth  to  the  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Association,  the  Student  Volunteer- 
Movement,  and  a  great  mass  of  associa¬ 
tion  work  which  links  together  the  vari¬ 
ous  denominations  and  stimulates  Chris- 
tain  life  and  work  in  a  thousand  direc¬ 
tions. 

Tlie  three  great  principles  of  the 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  work 
are:  First,  the  development  of  lay  agency 
in  our  churches ;  secondly,  the  unity  of  all 
believers;  thirdly,  the  stimulating  of 
Bible  study  among  young  men.  The 
young  man  with  the  Baxter  Bible  under 
his  arm  is  the  product  of  this  great 
movement,  and  the  type  of  a  new  era  of 
spiritual  power. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  movement  of  the 
century  has  been  in  the  direction  of 
Scriptual  holiness.  To  Charles  Finney 
more  than  to  any  other  individual,  is  this 
great  movement  due.  He  came  when 
men  were  under  the  power  of  a  religious 
fatalism,  and  he  urged  sinners  to  take  the 
salvation  that  God  had  already  given 
them,  and  Christians  to  co-operate  with 
God  and  claim  the  power  that  was  wait¬ 
ing  their  use.  Finney  lived,  believed 
and  preached  practical  holiness.  Simul¬ 
taneously  with  him  such  men  as  Asa, 
Mahan,  Monod,  the  Haldanes,  Dr. 
Boardman,  R.  P.  Smith  and  others  arose. 

In  1873  a  great  movement  began  in 
England,  which  led  to  the  consecration 
of  a  large  number  of  Ejpiscopal  clergy¬ 
men,  including  Canons  Christopher, 
Battersbv  and  a  circle  of  English  clergy¬ 
men  centering  around  Oxford.  One  of 
the  results  of  this  movement  was  the 
Keswick  meeting,  begun  in  1875,  and 
continuing  for  twenty-one  years  with  in¬ 
creasing  power.  Alongside  of  this  has 
been  a  simultaneous  movement  in  all 
Christian  lands,  and  under  various 
phases,  emphasizing  Sanctification,  Sepa¬ 
ration  and  the  preparation  of  the  Bride 
for  the  coming  of  our  Lord. 

Among  the  principles  emphasized  by 
this  movement  are;  First,  the  instant 
abandonment  of  all  known  sin;  second, 
the  surrender  of  our  will  to  the  will  of 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


31 


God;  third,  the  renunciation  of  self-life; 
fourth,  the  filling  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
fifth,  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
soul;  sixth,  all  the  possibilities  of  a 
Spirit-filled  life  for  service  and  blessing. 

There  is  one  more  movement  which 
might  be  called  the  movement  for  Salva¬ 
tion  and  Rescue  work.  It  is  represented 
by  our  Rescue  missions  in  the  slums, 
and  among  the  neglected  classes,  and  one 
of  its  chief  illustrations  has  been  the  work 
of  the  Salvation  Army,  embodying  these 
great  principles:  First,  every  believer  is 
a  witness  and  worker;  second,  every 
human  being  ought  to  be  sought  and 
saved;  third,  every  human  agency  ought 
to  be  subordinate  to  the  salvation  of  men. 

There  are  things  in  the  Army  which 
one  could  wish  were  different.  It  would 
be  much  better  if  the  Word  of  God  were 
recognized  and  the  Sacraments  were  ob¬ 
served.  But,  notwithstanding  all  our 
criticism,  it  represents  a  true  and  a  mar¬ 
velously  successful  advance  movement 
for  the  neglected  classes  and  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  men. 

Dear  friends,  these  are  some  of  God’s 
movements.  How  much  has  He  moved 
you,  and  how  much  are  you  doing  and 
letting  Him  do  through  you  for  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  men,  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  and  the  bringing  in  of  His  king¬ 
dom? 

THURSDAY,  DEC.  30. 

THE  GOSPEL,  THE  POWER  AND 
WISDOM  OF  GOD. 

By  F.  H.  Senft. 

The  picture  has  been  made  none  too 
dark  by  the  brother  who  preceded  me,  as 
he  portrayed  some  of  the  “  awful  evils  of 
modern  society.”  But  let  the  darkest  hues 
be  applied  to  the  canvas,  with  many  lines 
of  crimson,  the  blood  of  the  foulest 
crimes;  let  Satan  do  his  meanest,  might¬ 
iest  work  against  the  creatures  of  God,  re¬ 
producing,  yea,  outdoing  the  wickedness 
of  heathenism  described  in  the  first  and 
third  chapters  of  Romans,  closing  with 
“all  guilty  before  God,”  yet,  thank  God! 
the  remedy  is  more  than  equal  to  the 
deadly  disease;  for  “where  sin  abounded, 


grace  did  much  more  abound.”  Rom.  v. 

20. 

"  Do  you  see  that  creature  down  there 
in  the  slime  of  the  pit,  robbed  of  virtue 
and  valor,  shattered  and  shorn,  ready  to 
die?”  “Yes;  he  is  surely  in  a  most  pit¬ 
iable  and  deplorable  condition,  beyond  all 
hope,  too  vile  to  touch,  too  sinful  to  save.” 
“  Aha!”  says  Satan,  “■  he  was  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  but  look!  that  is  what  I 
have  done.” 

God  comes  on  the  scene  and  says, 
“True,  you  have  done  all  you  can  do,  ex¬ 
cept  take  his  life;  I  will  now  show  what  I 
can  do.”  Then  the  everlasting  arms  of 
Jehovah  reach  down  (through  some  lov¬ 
ing  Samaritan)  and  the  man  stands  up¬ 
right,  the  breath  of  God  regenerates;  he 
is  made  a  new  creature.  Would  you  rec¬ 
ognize  him  as  the  same  man?  “A  marvel¬ 
ous  transformation  !  ”  admitted  even  by 
Satan,  “  but  wait;  through  sin  and  conse¬ 
quent  disease  I  will  shorten  his  life  twen¬ 
ty  years!”  Would  not  the  enemy  still 
have  an  advantage  over  God  and  one  of 
His  redeemed  creatures?  But  listen! 
“  Where  sin  abounded,  grace  shall  much 
MORE  abound”  This  not  only  matches 
the  work  of  the  enemy,  but  makes  us 
“  more  than  conquerors.”  Salvation  from 
sin:  salvation  from  sickness.  Still  morel 
“  0,  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  0,  grave, 
where  is  thy  victory?”  But  thanks  be 
unto  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.”  Praise 
His  name  forever! 

I.  The  power  of  God.  God  hath  spoken 
once;  twice  have  I  heard  this,  that  power 
belongeth  unto  God.  Ps.  Ixi.  11.  El 
Shaddai — I  am  the  Almighty  God.  And 
this  ])owor  Ho  makes  possible  and  practi¬ 
cal  to  us  through  obedient  faith.  “  I  am 
thy  flod.”  “  W'’ith  God  all  things  are 
possible.”  Failh  makes  the  connection, 
and  “all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth  ” — God,  faith,  infinite  power, 
limitless  ])o.ssibilities. 

IT.  “  Christ  the  ])ower  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  of  God.”  I.  Cor.  i.  24.  Christ  was 
the  expression  of  the  Father’s  power  and 
wisdom  over  Satan,  sickness,  nature,  de¬ 
mons,  death,  even  His  own  resurrection 
and  trium])hant  ascension,  “  far  above  all 
principality  and  power  and  might  and  do¬ 
minion  and  every  name  that  is  named, 
not  only  in  this  world,  but  that  which  is 
to  come;  and  hath  put  all  things  undiM- 


32 


('HRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


ilis  feet,  and  gave  liiiii  to  be  head  over 
all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  His 
body,  the  tidiness  of  Him  that  filleth  all 
in  all.”  Ej)h.  i.  21-23.  Beloved,  we  are 
partakers  of  Ills  power,  “  the  exceeding 
greatness  of  llis  power  to  us-ward  who 
believe.”  However  humble  is  thy  place, 
even  His  feet,  thou  art  a  part  of  His  body, 
and  “all  things  are  under  His  feet.”  He 
is  “on  the  right  hand  of  the  power  of 
Hod.”  ]juke  xxii.  69.  It  is  the  power  of 
His  glory  shed  forth  in  us  by  the  Holy 
Hliost.  How  mighty  and  resistless  is  the 
current  from  yonder  throne  as  it  passes 
through  human  lives!  “In  heavenly  places 
in  Christ.”  His  exaltation  is  ours.  The 
])rivileges  and  power  of  the  throne  are 
ours  because  we  abide  in  Him  and 
through  such  association  ive  are  victor¬ 
ious,  coming  off  more  than  conquerors 
through  Him  that  loved  us! 

“All  poAver  is  given  unto  me,”  says 
Jesus,  “  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all 
nations.”  In  other  Avords,  “  I  have  all 
poAver,  and  you  have  me,  therefore  go.” 
We  could  not  control  the  poAver  of  God 
any  more  than  the  child  could  control  the 
dynamos  that  run  our  cars  and  light  our 
cities.  The  Spirit  strengt-hens  the  inner 
man  AAuth  all  might  that  Christ  may 
dAA^ell  in  our  hearts  that  Ave  might  be 
filled  AAuth  all  the  fullness  of  God.” 

III. — The  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God, 
Bom.  i.  16.  Note  the  three  “I  am’s  ”  of 
Paul — “  I  am  debtor,”  “  I  am  ready  ”  and 
“  I  am  not  ashamed  ” — and  each  has  to 
do  AAuth  the  gospel  in  his  relation  and  ob¬ 
ligation  to  men. 

The  gospel  is  the  living  chain  that  con¬ 
nects  us  AA'ith  God.  “  The  Avords  that  I 
speak  unto  you  they  are  spirit  and  life.” 
It  is  God’s  prepared  shaft  to  wound  that 
He  may  heal;  to  kill  that  He  may  make 
alive.  But  it  is  “  the  Avord  of  faith.”  Out 
of  the  germ,  concealed  Avithin  the  folds  of 
the  Word,  springs  life — everlasting  life, 
more  abundant  life.  “  The  gospel  is  the 
poAver  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one 
that  believeth.”  Hast  thou  believed? 
Dost  thou  continue  to  believe?  “  Believ- 
eth,  ” — the  perpetual  present  tense. 

The  gospel  is  the  only  remedy  for  mod¬ 
ern  evils,  AA^hether  coated  Avith  culture  and 
civilization  or  blackened  AAuth  the  deepest 
darkness  of  heathenism.  Christ  the  power 
of  God;  the  gospel  the  power  of  God, 
alone,  is  the  cure-all.  He  does  not  bid 


us  go  and  educate,  refine,  reform,  civilize; 
but  “  GO  PREACH  MY  GOSPEL.”  The  for¬ 
mer  Avithout  the  gospel  will  only  make 
man  more  a  child  of  hell;  Avhile  the  gospel 
Avill  transform  him  into  a  child  of  heaven, 
even  the  Bride  of  Christ. 

IIoAv  the  enemy  dances  with  delight  as 
he  dazzles  the  AA'atchmen  on  the  walls  of 
Zion  Avith  false  methods  of  warning  the 
slumbering  church  and  Avrong  tactics  in 
meeting  the  enemy  in  the  open  battle!  It 
is  not  reformation,  but  regeneration;  not 
education,  but  evangelization;  not  build¬ 
ing  up  strong  communities  of  “  like  faith 
and  order,”  but  push  on  into  all  Judea, 
and  into  Samaria,  and  unto  the  utter¬ 
most  parts  of  the  earth.”  “Let  us  go  into 
the  next  towns.” 

IV. — The  Holy  Spirit  the  agent.  “  He 
breathed  on  them  and  said,  Eeceive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost.”  He,  the  Spirit-filled,  the 
conqueror  of  death,  the  resurrected  One, 
clothed  Avith  ncAv  power,  breathed,  im¬ 
parted  an  earnest  of  the  post-ascension 
poAver  received  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

He  shall  baptize  you  Avith  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  fire.”  “  Ye  shall  receive  the 
])OAver  of  the  Holy  Ghost  coming  upon 
you  ”  (marginal  reading) .  He  is  not  only 
the  Holy  Spirit  but  the  Spirit  of  power. 
Holiness  linked  Avith  almightiness,  the 
Holy  One  transforming  the  impure,  the 
Omnipotent  One  empoAvering  the  impo¬ 
tent  one.  “  HE  SHALL  BE  IN  YOU.” 

In  Joel  ii.  23  there  is  “  the  rain,  the 
former  rain  and  the  latter  rain.”  Might 
this  not  haA^e  a  spiritual  significance? 
Have  you  had  the  rain  of  regeneration? 
Have  you  drank  in  the  copious  shoAvers  of 
“the  former  rain  of  Pentecost?”  Do  you 
know  the  sweetness  and  fullness  of  the 
ever-increasing  shoAvers  of  Pentecost  as 
they  mingled  Avith  the  droppings  of  “  the 
latter  rain,”  Avhich  Avill  soon  be  poured 
upon  all  flesh?  We  are  living  at  the  end  of 
the  ages,  Avhere  many  lines  are  converging 
into  a  focus  of  blazing  light  from  the 
throne  of  coming  glory.  Let  him  that 
readeth  understand.  What  means  this 
eager  throng,  Avith  hearts  intensely  long¬ 
ing  for  God,  the  living  God?  The  ansAver 
Avas  given  tAventy-five  centuries  ago,  “In 
the  time  of  the  end,  many  shall  be  puri¬ 
fied  and  made  white  and  tried.”  Never 
Avas  there  such  a  time  of  searching  for  the 
hidden  treasures,  seeking  for  him  who 
alone  can  satisfy  the  deepest  longings  of 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


33 


the  huinaii  soul.  It  is  the  time  of  the 
end:  the  day  of  llis  preparation.  The 
l^anib's  wife  is  putting  on  her  spotless 
robes  of  “  line  linen,  clean  and  bright.” 
Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honor 
to  liiiii;  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is 
come,  and  His  wife  has  made  herself 
ready.” 

What  means  this  “walking,  leaping  and 
praising  God?”  Oh,  it  means  that  some¬ 
thing  better  than  “  silver  and  gold  ” 
(standard  of  the  world’s  power)  is  given 
to  some  suffering  one  “  whom  Satan  hath 
bound.”  The  IMaster  has  spoken  the 
word,  “  Behold,  I  give  unto  you  power.  .  . 
over  all  the  power  of  the  enemy,”  Luke  x. 
19.  “  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that 
believe.”  Pentecostal  faith  produces  Pen¬ 
tecostal  power.  The  Pentecostal  and  Mil¬ 
lennial  circles  are  crossi-ng  each  other, 
and  those  who,  with  faith  and  conse¬ 
cration  will  live  within  the  segments  of 
these  circles  shall  experience  the  power  of 
“  present  truth,”  shall  do  the  “  greater 
works”  and  shall  know  something  of  “the 
power  and  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.”  As  many  miraculous  signs  at¬ 
tended  the  first  advent  of  Christ,  so  His 
second  coming  will  be  ushered  in  by  dis¬ 
plays  of  supernatural  power.  A  people 
are  being  prepared  by  the  Supernatural 
Hand  who  believe  in  the  supernatural  and 
will  welcome  with  joy  the  greatest  mira¬ 
cle  of  the  ages — ^the  resurrection  and 
translation. 

As  the  shades  of  wickedness  are  growing 
darker,  for  “the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly, 
and  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand,“ 
the  brightness  of  our  coming  Lord  throws 
a  heavenly  lustre  on  the  “little  flock,”  and 
a  voice  is  heard  :  “  Look  up  lift  up  your 
heads;  for  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh.”  The  cup  of  iniquity  will  soon  be 
full,  and  woe  be  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth  who  shall  drink  it!  Then  He  whose 
right  it  is  to  reign  shall  come  and  cast  out 
the  usurper,  and  the  whole  earth  shall  he 
filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  Amen. 
Am  en . 

THE  OUTLOOK  IN  CHINA. 

By  MR.  C.  T.  STUDD. 

I  believe  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a 
groat  revival  in  China.  Since  the  massa¬ 
cre  at  Puhkien  there  have  been  marvelous 


outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  God 
seems  to  be  turning  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  Him. 

A  few  years  ago  there  were  only  a  few 
missionaries  along  the  coast.  Then  God 
laid  it  upon  the  heart  of  Dr.  Hudson  Tay¬ 
lor  to  plant  the  gospel  in  the  interior  pro¬ 
vinces  of  China  and  God  has  blessed  that 
movement  in  a  marvelous  manner.  Then 
there  were  four  mission  stations  in  that 
province;  now  there  are  over  thirty. 

Some  of  the  converts  in  China  are  noble 
specimens  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel. 
There  was  a  man  who  had  been  very  bit¬ 
ter  against  Christianity  and  hired  the 
mob  to  beat  the  colporteur  and  evangel¬ 
ists  who  came.  One  day,  his  own  heart 
was  touched,  and  he  bought  a  copy  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  read 
them  through,  but  he  ^ould  not  under¬ 
stand.  He  met  the  colporteur  again  and 
told  him  that  he  could  not  make  any¬ 
thing  out  of  the  Book.  The  man  then 
sold  him  Luke  and  John.  Still  he  could 
not  understand.  Then  the  colporteur  ad¬ 
vised  him  to  go  up  six  days  journey  north 
and  he  would  find  a  missionary.  He  took 
the  long  journey  and  visited  the  mission¬ 
ary;  and  then  he  understood  and  began 
to  sing  and  pray.  He  came  home  a  happy 
Christian.  His  wife  and  mother  beat  him 
with  the  broom  and  tried  to  frighten  him 
out  of  it;  but  he  still  read  his  Bible  and 
rejoiced  in  the  Lord.  One  day  he  found 
the  hooks  were  gone,  and  his  wife  and 
mother  told  him  they  had  burned  them. 
What  did  he  do?  Why,  he  just  took  the 
same  journey  again — a  six  days’  journey 
— and  got  another  Book,  and  when  he 
came  hack  he  began  to  read  it  to  his 
neighbors.  They  reviled  him,  hut  he  re¬ 
viled  not  again;  and  after  awhile  they  be¬ 
gan  to  say  that  it  was  they  that  were' had, 
not  he;  and  his  mother  asked  him  to  take 
her  up,  and  she  was  converted.  And  then 
the  wife  was  converted,  and  some  of  the 
neighbors  were  converted,  and  that  place 
now  is  a  blessed  centre  of  the  Gos))el. 

I  know  another  man  who  was  a  slave  of 
the  opium  habit;  hut  he  was  converted 
and  immediately  saved  from  it.  He  saw 
his  folly,  and  took  down  the  idols  from 
his  house.  Then  they  tried  to  frighten 
him  out  of  it  and  said,  “  Are  you  wiser 
than  all  the  scholars  of  China?  Are  yon 
wiser  than  all  the  millions  of  this  Empire? 
Are  yon  wiser  than  your  ancestors,  whom 


34 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


you  are  hound  to  worship  and  respect  and 
follow  as  a  true  t'liinainan  ^  ”  Uut  he 
stood  linn;  and  again  and  again  he  was 
taken  out  and  beaten  publicly  and  cruelly 
and  there  was  no  redress  for  him.  We 
call  this  man  Peter  because  he  is  a  sort  of 
a  rock  who  loves  righteousness  and  hates 
iniquity;  and  there  are  many  such  men  in 
China — glorious  characters;  men  of  un¬ 
compromising  principle  and  spiritual 
power  and  sublime  e.xamples  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

^  ^  # 


FRIDAY,  JAN.  1. 

HINDKAXCES  TD  THE  IMMEDIATE 
EVANGELIZATION  OE  THE 
AVOBLD. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

"What  is  the  matter  that  the  church  at 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  fac¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  one  thousand  millions  of 
our  fellow  beings  have  never  yet  heard  of 
Christ? 

First — There  is  a  lack  of  conviction  on 
the  part  of  the  great  majority  of  Chris¬ 
tians  with  respect  to  the  fact  that  the 
heathen  are  lost  without  Christ.  This  is, 
undoubtedly,  as  a  result  of  the  specious 
teachings  of  many  of  our  modern  leaders 
of  thought,  an  idea  that,  somehow,  there 
is  hope  for  man  outside  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Such  hooks  as  Dean  Farrars 
“  Eternal  Hope;”  such  influences  as  the 
“  Parliament  of  Eeligions  at  Chicago.” 
the  colossal  mistake  of  the  century,  all 
tend  to  produce  upon  the  minds  of  men 
the  impression  that  there  is  some  saving 
power  in  the  natural  conceptions,  re¬ 
sources  and  religions  of  the  world.  Men 
have  come  to  believe  that  the  false  relig¬ 
ions  of  the  world  are  not  so  bad,  and  the 
spirit  of  unprincipled  charity  and  tolera¬ 
tion  has  gone  abroad,  whose  influence  has 
certainly  been  to  weaken  the  conviction 
of  man’s  lost  and  powerless  state,  out  of 
which  all  true  missionary  effort  must 
spring.  I  have  no  doubt,  whatever,  from 
letters  received  from  every  part  of  the 
world,  and  the  general  testimony  of  mis¬ 


sionaries,  that  the  Parliament  of  Eelig¬ 
ions  and  the  countenance  given  to  the 
teachers  of  heathenism  on  the  same  plat¬ 
form  with  Christianity,  was  the  severest 
blow  that  Christianity  has  received  dur¬ 
ing  the  century. 

Second — The  lack  of  sympathy  with 
mankind  is  another  cause  of  the  decline 
of  missions.  Think  of  Darwin  saying  of 
the  Terra  Del  Fuegans  that  they  were  not 
worth  saving.  The  true  spirit  of  Christi¬ 
anity  is  love  for  souls;  sympathy  for  men 
as  men. 

Third — The  deepest  cause  of  the  fail¬ 
ure  of  the  missionary  spirit  to-day  is  want 
of  sympathy  with  Christ.  The  heart  of 
Christ  is  love  for  the  perishing,  and  the 
only  Avay  to  have  it  is  to  have  Christ  Him¬ 
self  dwelling  within  us.  Without  the  in¬ 
dwelling  of  Christ  there  can  be  no  true 
missionary  sympathy.  The  real  trouble 
with  the  church  to-day  is  that  Christ  is 
not  divelling  and  reigning  as  a  living  re¬ 
ality  in  the  hearts  of  the  majority  of  His 
]ieople;  and  they  know  really  nothing  of 
Ilis  love  for  dying  men,  which  brought 
Him  to  the  cross  and  the  grave. 

Fourth — The  lack  of  the  Enduement  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  is,  of  course,  the  secret  of 
all  the  other  difficulties.  This  alone  can 
bring  us  into  sympathy  with  Christ,  and 
into  sympathy  with  men,  and  this  is  prac¬ 
tically  rejected  by  a  large  proportion  of 
professing  Christians  to-day.  Christianity 
is  a  matter  of  doctrines  and  forms.  "What 
could  be  done  in  a  single  decade  if  the 
church  would  only  take  up  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  and  make  it  the  manual  of 
her  practice,  and  again  become  a  praying, 
a  witnessing,  and  a  heaven-baptised 
church  !  In  a  single  generation  the  Apos¬ 
tolic  church  covered  the  known  world 
with  the  gospel,  and  yet  the  entire  mem¬ 
bership  to-day  of  the  Protestant  churches 
of  the  world,  numbering  tens  of  millions, 
only  sends  about  ten  thousand  mission¬ 
aries  to  heathen  lands,  and  the  aver¬ 
age  contribution  of  a  seventh  part  of  a 
cent  a  day  to  evangelize  the  world.  Every 
disciple  in  the  Apostolic  church  was  a 
missionary;  less  than  one  in  a  thousand  of 
the  professing  Christians  of  to-day  is  def¬ 
initely  working  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the 
world.  God  grant  that  out  of  this  con¬ 
vention  may  come  a  spiritual  impulse  that 
will  lead  to  some  great  movement  for  the 
immediate  evangelization  of  the  Avorld. 


CHItlSTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


35 


TilK  liOSPEL  AMONG  THE  INDIANS 

By  ARCHDEACON  PHAIR,  of  Winuepeg,  Manitoba. 

TIu!  Gospel  i.s  tiie  power  of  God.  Imag¬ 
ine  a  r.iissiouary  going  without  it!  Let  me 
give  some  facts  to  illustrate  the  power  of 
the  Gospel  among  the  heathen: 

Thirty-four  years  ago  I  left  England 
for  the  great  Northwest,  going  oy  way  of 
your  city,  and  then  up  through  Minne¬ 
sota  into  the  great  lone  land  with  its 
mighty  forests  and  its  miserable  savages. 
A  few  months  ago  1  was  called  to  revisit 
some  of  the  scenes  of  my  early  ministry. 
1  looked  at  an  old  Indian  with  gray  hair 
and  wrinkled  face,  but  with  the  light  of 
God’s  peace  upon  his  countenance,  and 
his  iiand  upon  his  Bible  that  he  loved  so 
dearly,  1  asked  the  old  man  why  the  “  big 
praying  book,”  as  they  call  it,  was  so  dear 
to  him.  The  old  man  answered,  “  Big 
night,  all  dark',  no  light.  Do  not  know 
where  to  put  my  feet.  Dark  night,  dark 
above,  very  dark.  Within,  big  dark  night. 
This  Book  was  like  the  sun  rising.  It 
showed  me  where  to  put  my  feet.  Its 
words  were  sweet.  Everything  I  have  got 
is  between  the  covers  of  this  Big  Praying 
Book;  everything  I  have  is  within  tlie 
Book,  and  so  I  keexj  it  near  me.”  Will 
you  please  tell  me  what  other  book  I  could 
put  into  the  hands  of  that  Dakota  Indian 
that  could  give  Jiim  the  comfort  and  the 
hope  of  this  blessed  Bible? 

Much  of  our  work  is  am.)ni.r  ih '  0 jib¬ 
way  and  Kree  Indians.  When  I  first  went 
to  them  I  had  a  great  big  box  of  books. 
They  said  they  did  not  want  the  books, 
that  tliey  would  only  bring  them  tron])le. 
'Phey  could  not  eat  the  books,  and  they 
would  make  trouble  with  their  wives  and 
conjurers.  Most  of  these  ]ieople  w  we 
polygamists  and  under  the  ])ower  >)f  (be 
witch  doctors,  and  they  knew  the  Ilible 
would  break  up  all  these  things,  and  it 
has.  The  very  ])hvsicnl  appeai'ance  of  Bm 
country  l)as  been  transformed.  Peaceful, 
happy  homes  and  smiling  fields  and  gar¬ 
dens  take  the  idace  of  the  once  dreary 
wildeimess.  And  woman,  oh!  liow  she  has 
keen  elevated!  TTuder  boatbeidsm  the  In¬ 
dian  woman  lias  to  take  a  back  scat  every¬ 
where.  She  paddles  the  canoe  while  the 
man  sits  in  a  comforta))le  Idaidcet  in  (be 
nnddle  of  the  boat.  When  they  come  to 
a  T'crtage,  the  woman  carries  the  boat. 
When  the  lime  for  eating  comes,  slie  gets 


out  the  hsh  and  cooks  it,  and  then  the 
man  sits  down  and  cats  it  and  if  there  is 
anything  left  she  gets  it.  But  when  the 
Gospel  comes  woman  takes  her  true  place. 

There  was  an  old  Indian  who  gave  me 
much  trouble.  lie  had  five  wives  and  he 
used  to  beat  them  cruelly.  There  was  one 
older  iban  the  rest  that  he  disliked  most 
of  all,  and  he  had  beaten  her  until  she 
was  quite  mutilated  from  his  blows.  One 
morning  he  called  them  into  his  wigwam 
and  told  them  that  they  were  all  free;  that 
the  Big  Book  had  shown  him  that  he  was 
bad.  He  told  them  he  was  sorry  and  now 
in  a  few  days  he  was  going  to  get  the 
praying  water  put  on  him  (baptism),  and 
then  he  was  going  to  get  married  to  one 
of  tin  And  sure  enough!  the  day  he 
was  baptized  he  married  the  old  muti¬ 
lated,  despised  ivife,  and  set  the  others 
free.  What  power  but  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
could  ever  have  made  a  selfish  human 
heart  to  act  like  that! 

On  another  occasion  it  was  necessary  to 
take  the  missionary  from  a  station  and 
send  him  far  into  the  interior  to  a  neg¬ 
lected  held.  I  went  to  the  station  and 
called  the  Christian  Indians  together  and 
made  the  proposition  to  them.  I  said, 
“  Now,  I  have  a  big  question,  a  very  big 
question,  to  ask  you;  open  your  ears  wide. 
I  want  you  to  lend  me  your  missionary  for 
six  months  that  I  may  send  him  to  the 
people  far  away  who  know  not  God  and 
never  heard  a  word  about  this  Book.  Do 
let  me  have  him,  ami  1  will  promise  you 
that  I  will  lot  you  have  him  back  in  si.\ 
months.  Now,  what  will  you  do  when  he 
is  away  about  your  sermons  and  meet¬ 
ings?”  I  waited  a  while,  and  then  an  old 
Christian  Indian  arose  and  said  the  white 
mail  was  very  foolish.  He  said,  “Now, 
don’t  you  know  that  the  while  man  can¬ 
not  take  away  God’s  Book?  You  sei’inon- 
making  men,  you  are  full  of  words,  you 
never  stop  talking,  bu(.  (bis  Book  is  God’s 
Book,  and  there  is  a  boy  bore  that  can  cat 
this  book  (be  meant  I'cad  i(),  and  so  I  will 
have  him  read  it  to  me  the  day  after  (be 
])raying  day  (Monday),  and  then  I  will  go 
to  fbe  Big  Chief  in  heaven  and  ask  Him 
to  make  me  understand  it,  and  I  will 
think  al)on(  it  all  the  week  until  the  pi'ay- 
ing  day,  and  then  the  Big  Chief  will  go 
with  me,  and  w('  will  talk  to  the  people  all 
( bat  He  has  told  me.” 

So  the  arrangement  was  made,  and  the 


36 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


niissiouary  left  i'or  tlie  distant  station. 
Two  niontlis  later  i  visited  the  station 
that  had  been  bereaved  of  its  pastor.  They 
asked  me  to  preach,  but  i  said,  “  iSio,  I 
will  listen.''  And  the  old  man  said,  "Yes, 
that  is  very  wise,  it  is  a  much  bigger  thing 
to  listen  than  to  preach,”  and  so  he  began 
to  talk,  lie  said,  "  There  were  two  boys 
tiiat  the  Big  Book  tells  about.  One  was 
foolish  and  the  other  was  very  foolish. 
One  went  away  and  left  his  father,  and 
did  very  bad;  but  the  other  one  that  staid 
home  was  more  foolish,  because  he  grum¬ 
bled  when  be  ought  to  have  been  glad 
when  bis  brother  gave  up  his  foolishness 
and  came  back  to  his  father.” 

1  wonder  if  seminaries  could  produce  as 
good  preaching  as  that.  Ah!  it  is  the  God 
back  of  the  Book  that  triumphs.  How 
this  work  brings  us  in  touch  with  God. 
Beloved,  it  is  not  sitting  here  and  singing 
that  makes  us  happy,  hut  it  is  to  go  out 
and  make  others  happy  with  His  love. 
You  must  go  out  and  see  its  triumphs 
among  the  heathen. 

Let  us  descrilie  a  visit  to  what  we  call 
our  baby  mission.  After  a  long  journey 
we  reached  the  place  about  one  o’clock  in 
the  morning.  Our  host,  Mr.  John  Eattle- 
snake,  got  up,  made  a  fire,  and  gave  us 
some  fish  to  eat.  We  told  him  what  we 
came  for.  We  came  with  a  big  message 
that  filled  our  hearts — God  loved  them 
and  wanted  them  to  know  Him.  So  in 
the  morning  John  went  out  and  beat  his 
frying-pan  with  a  stick  as  the  church  bell 
and  the  people  came  and  we  had  some 
hymns.  Then  we  talked  to  them  from  the 
Bible,  and  then  I  said: 

“  ISTow,  let  us  stop  talking  and  let  God 
talk.  Are  there  any  of  you  that  want  any¬ 
thing  from  God?  If  so,  let  him  stand  up 
and  say  so.  Then  an  old  woman  stood  up 
and  said,  “  I  do  not  know  anything  about 
God,  but  your  words  are  good.  I  want 
you  to  tell  God  who  I  am  and  that  I  would 
like  Him  to  help  me  and  give  me  power  to 
keep  His  words,  for  I  do  not  know  how.” 
Then  another  woman  got  up  and  said, 
“  I  want  you  to  tell  God  about  me.  I 
have  two  boys;  I  am  afraid  they  will  walk 
crooked.  I  want  Him  to  make  them  good.” 
And  then  we  prayed.  Some  of  them  were 
converted  and  our  hearts  were  so  happy. 
That  night  we  did  not  go  to  bed  at  all, 
but  just  talked  and  prayed  all  night. 

Next  day  we  went  over  to  see  some  In¬ 


dians  that  had  not  been  there.  And  there 
was  a  poor  boy  lying  on  a  wretched  thing 
called  a  bed.  He  had  been  a  year  and  a 
half  there.  I  sat  down  and  talked  to  him 
and  asked  him  if  he  ever  got  anything 
from  God.  He  said,  Many  things.”  1 
asked  him  if  he  ever  thanked  God  for 
those  things,  and  he  said,  “  Ho,  I  did  not 
know  where  He  was.”  “  Would  you  like 
to  thank  God?”  And  then,  do  you  be¬ 
lieve  it,  that  poor  emaciated  creature 
crawled  off  his  bed  and  stood  up  and 
stretched  up  his  right  hand  to  heaven  and 
said,  Oh!  Big  Chief  in  Heaven,  I  got 
your  things  and  I  never  said  a  word  to 
thank  you.  I  took  them  and  used  them. 
I  am  so  sorry  now  and  thank  you.  If  you 
will  give  me  more  things  I  will  always 
thank  you.  I  liked  the  things,  but  I 
would  like  to  know  yourself  more  than 
the  things.”  Ah!  friends,  that  poor  heath¬ 
en  boy,  it  seems  to  me,  will  be  nearer  to 
Christ  in  heaven  than  some  with  finer 
jirayer  books  and  more  cultured  prayers. 

In  one  station  we  have  1,200  Indians, 
and  there  is  not  a  single  heathen  on  the 
place.  When  an  old  Ojibway  Indian  be¬ 
comes  a  Christian,  he  is  out  and  out  for 
God.  Y"ou  will  see  these  poor  women, 
with  a  coarse  rabbit-skin  covering  their 
bodies,  walk  miles  through  the  forest  that 
they  may  hear  the  Word  of  God.  When 
I  think  of  woman’s  position  without  the 
Gospel — for  an  Indian  will  be  sorry  if  his 
dog  dies,  but  if  his  wife  dies  he  will  say, 
with  a  sneer,  “  It  was  only  a  woman  ” — 
when  I  think  of  this  and  then  see  their 
happy  lot  under  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
their  transformed  lives  and  their  simple, 
beautiful  faith,  I  do  not  envy  any  man 
his  place  in  the  church  of  God. 

Oh,  beloved !  let  us  get  side  by  side  with 
the  man  who  wrote  these  h'tters  in  the 
New  Testament  and  we  shall  be  mission¬ 
aries,  too.  And  if  we  cannot  go,  we  shall 
stand  heart  to  heart  with  those  who  do 
go  and  be  workers  together  with  Christ 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

€  ^  ^ 

SOUTH  AMERICA,  THE  NEG¬ 
LECTED  CONTINENT. 

By  EMILIO  OLSSON. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  world  will  ever 
be  evangelized  by  machinery.  The  Lord 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


37 


wants,  not  only  to  use  ordained  men  but 
men  ordained  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  aiul  the 
great  commission  commands  us  to  go  to 
Jerusalem,  Samaria  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth.  1  think  South  Amer¬ 
ica  is  Samaria. 

We  have  only  one  missionary  in  South 
America  for  every  3U(J,000  people.  We 
have  many  schools  and  the  natives  are  be¬ 
ing  educated;  but  this  is  only  increasing 
their  power  for  evil.  What  they  need  is 
the  gospel. 

1  am  glad  to  tell  you,  from  long  expe¬ 
rience  and  recent  observation,  that  the 
door  is  opening  in  Bolivia,  Ecuador  and 
all  the  most  difficult  centres.  God  has 
permitted  me  in  the  past  fifteen  years  to 
circulate  20,000  copies  of  the  Word  of 
God  and  to  preach  to  a  million  people  in 
South  America  in  more  than  300  differ¬ 
ent  places.  I  have  travelled  50,000  miles 
in  that  continent.  My  great  delight  has 
been  to  give  the  people  the  Word  of  God. 
South  America  is  not  going  to  be  saved 
by  fine  sermons,  but  by  God’s  precious 
tVord.  A  missionary  without  the  Bible 
is  like  a  carpenter  without  his  tools.  I 
know  that  thousands  have  been  saved  in 
that  land  by  simply  reading  the  Book. 

I  wish  to  speak  of  my  own  experience, 
with  great  humilty.  Twenty  years  ago  1 
left  Sweden,  with  my  mother  and  sister 
praying  for  my  salvation.  I  was  cast 
among  cruel  and  ungodly  men,  and  at  last 
T  longed  to  know  the  Lord.  God  was 
pleased  to  answer  the  prayers  of  those 
who  loved  me,  and  I  was  saved  from  many 
perils;  twice  was  shipwrecked;  once  lost 
overboard;  and  many  a  day  in  great  dan¬ 
ger  and  suffering.  At  last,  on  the  Falk¬ 
land  Islands,  I  found  Christ.  My  heart 
was  so  happy  that  T  had  to  toll  the  people 
about  my  conversion  and  they  thought  I 
was  mad.  At  last,  I  got  to  the  mainland 
and  began  to  work  among  the  sailors  and 
neglected  people,  and  the  work  at  length 
grew  into  a  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso¬ 
ciation. 

Then  I  began  to  go  out  into  the  coun¬ 
try  and  work  among  the  people.  One  of 
my  journeys  took  me  into  Patagonia. 
The  Indians  there  worshipped  evil  spirits, 
and  they  thought  T  was  one  of  those 
people.  They  all  carried  revolvers  and 
knives,  but  T  sle])t  with  nothing  but  a 
Bible  under  my  pillow  and  felt  the  reality 
of  God’s  ywesenee.  T  was  so  happy,  for 


i  knew  that  a  hair  could  not  fall  from  my 
head  until  my  work  was  done.  The  In¬ 
dians  began  to  say,  “That  man  is  not  bad, 
he  has  no  revolver.”  Then  I  had  to  learn 
to  eat  their  food  and  sleep  on  the  hard 
ground  and  drink  their  strange  bever¬ 
ages.  They  began  to  have  confidence  in 
me  and  became  my  friends.  They  made 
a  league  for  me  against  the  priests  and 
would  have  fought  for  me  to  the  death. 
They  used  to  make  me  stand  up  and  tell 
them  the  story  of  the  gospel.  Once,  as 
I  was  talking  to  a  man,  I  asked  him  if  he 
had  ever  heard  of  such  a  person  as  Jesus 
Christ,  and  he  said,  “No.  Who  is  He? 
Where  is  He?” 

Once,  after  a  journey  of  forty-seven 
days,  I  lay  down  very  tired  and  slept  in 
the  skin  that  I  carried  about  with  me.  In 
the  morning  I  took  the  skin  when  I  got 
up,  and,  lo!  two  scorpions  fell  out.  The 
Lord  had  kept  them  quiet  all  the  night. 

Another  time  I  was  on  a  great  plain, 
when  suddenly  a  wild  bull  attacked  me. 
I  knew  not  what  to  do,  but  I  just  ran, 
and  the  Lord  led  me  to  run  right  to  a 
tree,  although  I  did  not  know  that  there 
was  one  there,  for  it  was  a  barren  plain, 
and  it  is  very  remarkable  to  find  a  tree  on 
these  Pampas;  but  God  had  put  that  tree 
there  just  for  my  protection,  and  I 
climbed  up  into  the  branches  and  sat 
there,  praising  the  Lord  and  looking 
down  at  the  bull. 

My  worst  foes,  however,  were  the 
priests;  they  did  all  they  could  to  hinder 
my  work.  One  of  them  lioastcd  tliat  he 
liad  burned  twenty  of  my  Bibles  and  that 
lie  would  like  to  l)urn  me  on  tlie  top  of 
them.  At  anotlior  time  I  liandcd  one  a 
tract,  and  lie  said,  “  Get  thee  bcliiud  me, 
Satan.”  I  prayed  for  wisdom,  and  God 
led  me  to  say,  “  My  Father,  if  I  am  a  bad 
man,  as  you  say,  won’t  you,  a  miuistc'r  of 
God,  lielp  mo  and  bring  me  back  to  Ihe 
fold?”  The  idea  struck  him,  ami  he  sat 
down  and  began  to  talk  to  mc'.  lie  said, 
“  I  will  bring  you  1)ack,”  ami  so  I  bad  a 
chance  to  tell  bim  about  ibe  Bible  and 
o])en  to  him  the  story  of  Jesus.  Instead 
of  his  converting  me  ibe  I;ord  (gmiu'd  bis 
heart.  He  acce])ted  some  tracts  and  went 
away,  I  trust,  to  preach  the  true  gos])el  to 
those  peo])le.  I  Avas  often  robbed  of  my 
Ifiblos,  but  I  was  not  altogether  sorry,  be¬ 
cause  I  hoped  they  would  read  the  Books 
and  learn  to  steal  no  more. 


38 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


:\IY  CALL. 

Ry  MIC  C.  T.  STLDIJ. 


Auotlier  time  a  man  got  hold  of  me 
and  shook  me  so  hard  that  i  had  to  pray 
the  Lord  to  give  me  grace  or  1  would  iiave 
hit  him  on  the  head  with  a  iiible,  but  God 
gave  me  grace  and  victory. 

i  once  went  to  a  magistrate  of  the  town 
to  protect  me  against  the  thieves  that 
were  constantly  breaking  into  my  mis¬ 
sion.  Why/^  said  he,  “  we  caiih  pro¬ 
tect  you.  l  our  mission  is  amongst  the 
very  worst  class  of  people,  but  1  went 
liack  to  them  and,  thank  God,  many  of 
those  wicked  thieves  and  robbers  were  af¬ 
terwards  saved. 

You  can  always  tell  when  a  man  is  con¬ 
verted,  or  a  woman  truly  saved,  liy  the 
different  way  they  live  at  home.  Y'ou 
find  the  house  clean  and  the  family  neat 
and  well  cared  for. 

The  ])eo])le  of  South  America  are  really 
hungering  for  the  gospel.  Often,  after 
holding  a  meeting  with  them,  I  could  not 
get  them  to  leave.  Once,  1  asked,  “  Who 
will  accept  Jesus?'’  and  the  whole  crowd 
rose  to  their  feet  and  thirty  came  forward 
and  knelt  down  and  prayed  in  the  most 
touching  manner.  Xext  day,  one  came 
back  and  told  me,  I  could  not  sleep  all 
night,  thanking  God  for  sending  you  here 
to  tell  me  of  the  precious  Saviour.” 
Another  time,  an  old  man  of  eighty-two 
rose  up  and,  with  tears,  began  to  thank 
God  for  the  good  news  of  salvation,  which 
he  had  heard  for  the  first  time. 

Since  I  have  been  in  South  America  I 
have  been  trying  very  hard  to  find  a  man 
who  did  not  know  Jesus  Christ,  but  I 
have  not  succeeded  yet. 

I  believe  that  South  America  can  be 
evangelized  in  four  years.  One  good  mis¬ 
sionary  can  reach  10,000  people  a  month, 
100,000  a  year  and  400,000  in  four  years, 
and  100  missionaries  could  reach  40,000,- 
000  people  in  four  years. 

South  America  is  like  a  gold  mine;  as 
you  go  down,  it  is  very  dark,  but  there  is 
precious  ore  to  reward  you  for  your  pains. 
Won’t  you  hel]i?  It  will  take  a  good  deal 
of  money  to  send  a  hundred  men  there 
for  four  years.  Imt  not  nearly  as  much  as 
it  would  take  to  build  one  of  your  fine 
cathedrals.  God  wants  us  to  go  and  give 
the  gospel  to  those  people  as  a  witness. 
There  are  .5,000,000  of  Indians  who  have 
never  heard  of  Christ.  Dear  friends,  will 
3'ou  help  to  evangelize  South  America 
and  hasten  the  coming  of  the  Lord? 


After  God  converted  me  I  gave  up  the 
law  and  devoted  all  my  life  to  work  for 
souls.  China  was  brought  before  me  with 
its  awful  needs  and  God  laid  it  upon  my 
heart  with  Ilis  own  divine  call  to  the  mis¬ 
sion  field.  I  was  very  fond  of  cricket,  but 
China  took  the  place  that  cricket  had  be¬ 
fore.  One  thing  absorbed  me,  and  I  lost 
interest  in  shooting,  athletics  and  every¬ 
thing  else,  through  the  expulsive  power 
of  something  better.  The  chief  difficulty 
in  my  way  was  my  mother.  It  seemed  at 
first  as  if  it  would  kill  her,  but  God  made 
that  verse  very  real  to  me,  A  man's  foes 
shall  be  they  of  his  own  house.”  But  I 
took  God  for  this  also,  and  He  made  it  all 
right  with  my  mother,  and  she  is  still 
living  and  a  happy  Christian.  God  made 
my  call  so  clear  that  I  could  have  no 
doubt  about  His  will,  and  in  all  the  dark¬ 
ness  through  which  I  have  passed  in 
China,  I  have  never  once  doubted. 

A  *  A 

SATURDAY,  JAN.  1. 

SEPAEATIOX. 

By  REV.  F.  L.  CHAPELL,  D.D. 

All  the  tendencies  of  the  age  are  to¬ 
ward  combination  and  compromise.  Sep¬ 
aration  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  im¬ 
portant  lessons  that  God  taught  His  Old 
Testament  people.  Then,  ceremonial  in¬ 
stitutions  were  fitted  to  impress  upon 
them  the  distinction  between  the  clean 
and  the  unclean.  Israel  itself  was  distinct 
from  all  other  nations,  and  there  were  two 
reasons  why  God  desires  to  keep  His  peo¬ 
ple  separated.  First,  because  the  world 
itself  was  bad.  Second,  because  even  after 
separation  there  was  danger  of  apostasy, 
and  His  people  needed  a  deeper  separa¬ 
tion.  First  He  separated  an  earthly  peo¬ 
ple  from  the  world,  and,  then,  secondly. 
He  separated  a  heavenly  people  from  the 
earthly. 

From  what  are  we  to  be  separated?  The 
Bible  idea  of  separation  is  not  Monasti- 
cism.  This  is  Satan’s  counterfeit.  We 
need  to  be  separated,  rather,  from  the 
world’s  spirit  and  ideals,  and  the  whole 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


39 


course  of  this  present  evil  world.  We 
need  to  be  separated  from  the  world’s  con¬ 
ception  of  what  constitutes  the  lost  state 
of  man.  The  world  tells  us  that  human¬ 
ity  is  a  rising,  not  a  fallen  race.  The 
Bible  idea  is  the  opposite  of  this  and  God 
wants  us  to  witness  to  it.  We  want  to  he 
separated  from  the  world’s  idea  about 
human  salvation.  It  is  not  education,  but 
inspiration;  not  the  development  of  man, 
hut  the  incoming  of  God.  And  then  we 
want  to  be  separated  from  the  world’s 
idea  about  our  destiny  and  our  future  life. 

Now,  how  are  we  to  be  separated  from 
this  present  evil  world?  The  only  way  is 
by  the  indwelling  of  God.  Moses  touch¬ 
ingly  referred  to  this  when  he  pleaded  for 
God’s  presence.  He  said,  “  How  shall  we 
he  separated  from  all  other  people  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  except  it  be  in  this,  that 
Thou  goest  with  us.” 

Unto  what  are  we  separated?  Paul  said 
he  was  separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  humanita¬ 
rian  schemes.  We  are  witnesses  for  Christ 
and  His  work.  In  these  days,  when  the 
gospel  is  being,  not  dispensed,  but  dis¬ 
pensed  with,  Christ  wants  a  people  who 
will  stand  out  distinctly  upon  His  word, 
in  His  Spirit,  and  with  His  testimony,  as 
the  world’s  only  hope. 

Affain,  we  are  separated  unto  our  high 
calling.  Christ,  at  God’s  right  hand,  is 
the  pattern  of  our  true  life,  and  we  are 
living  as  a  separated  and  heavenly  people 
whose  destiny  is  to  be  with  Him  and  like 
Him  there.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we 
shall  come  out  of  the  church  ecclesiasti¬ 
cally,  but  Christ  is  gathering  a  people  unto 
Himself,  united  by  invisible  bonds,  await¬ 
ing  the  revelation  of  their  glorious  Lord, 
who  is  Himself  the  pattern  of  what  they 
shall  be. 

A  .#• 

SEPAPATION. 

By  REV.  ,T.  II.  GRAY,  D.H.  of  Boston. 

In  I  Cor.  chapters  8  to  10,  the  Apostle 
gives  some  of  the  j)rinciples  which  regu¬ 
late  our  relation  to  the  Ijord  and  our  true 
separtion  to  God. 

I’lie  Corinthians  had  written  to  him, 
asking  advice  about  Christian  casuistry, 
particularly  the  eating  of  meat  ofTered  in 


sacrilice  to  idols.  They  had  been  con¬ 
verted  from  heathenism,  tvhere  it  was 
customary  to  dedicate  to  the  idols  the 
viands  at  their  banquets,  and  they  were 
sometimes  invited  by  their  heathen  neigh¬ 
bors  to  these  feasts  and  these  feasts  were 
sometimes  held  in  the  temples  of  the 
idols.  Was  it  right  for  them  to  go?  There 
was  a  brother  in  the  church  who  claimed 
the  liberty  to  go,  arguing  that  the  idol  was 
nothing,  and,  therefore,  there  could  be  no 
sin  in  the  eating  and  drinking  of  things 
sacrificed  to  idols.  Others  doubted  and 
asked  Paul’s  counsel.  Paul  takes  three 
chapters  to  answer  their  question,  and  in 
the  course  of  his  answer  lays  down  great 
and  permanent  principles.  He  states  that 
an  idol  is  nothing,  and  there  is  no  sin  in 
eating  that  which  has  been  sacrificed  to 
the  idol.  But  your  weak  brother  does  not 
quite  feel  as  you  do,  and  your  example 
may  weaken  and  injure  him.  Will  you 
press  your  liberty  to  the  point  of  another’s 
injury?  “No,”  says  Paul,  “if  meat  make 
my  brother  to  offend  I  will  eat  no  flesh 
while  the  world  stands.” 

In  the  next  chapter  he  gives  three  illus¬ 
trations  from  his  own  life.  First,  he 
speaks  of  the  innocent  and  right  things 
that  he  might  do;  the  enjoyment  of  home 
and  married  life  ivliich  were  all  legitimate 
for  him.  “But,”  he  says,  “  I  have  used 
none  of  these  things;  not  liecause  they  are 
wrong,  but  for  the  sake  of  my  brother  and 
the  gospel.”  So,  he  lays  down  great  prin¬ 
ciples  of  voluntary  sacrifice  for  the  sake 
of  others. 

Next,  in  the  tenth  chapter  he  ajqfiies 
the  subject  to  their  own  s]uritual  interest, 
and  shows  that,  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
others,  but  for  their  own,  we  need  guard 
most  cai’cfnlly  against  the  very  touch  of 
evil.  He  refers  to  the  failure  of  Israel  to 
enter  the  land  of  ]momise,  atid  the  reason 
was  that  they  were  doing  the  very  things 
that  you  are  doing — lust  ing  after  I  In* 
things  of  the  world  and  allowing  the  in¬ 
sidious  approaehes  of  evil,  until  at  last 
they  fell  iimhu-  God’s  condemnation  and 
lost-  their  iidieritance. 

IGnally,  Iti  IIu'  nex't  chapter,  he  rises  to 
still  higher  ground,  and  shows  them  how, 
for  the  fjord’s  sake  as  well  as  their  own, 
and  th(‘ir  neighhoi's’,  they  must  tight  the 
very  appearance  of  evil  and  hi'  separated 
from  the  world.  “Ye  cannot  drink  the 
Clip  of  the  Lord  and  the  enp  id'  de\'ils.” 


40 


CHUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


This  subject  applies  to  our  own  life, 
our  eating  and  drinking,  our  way  of  liv¬ 
ing,  our  mode  of  dress,  our  amusements, 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  our  busi¬ 
ness  partnerships  and  investments.  There 
are  three  questions  that  are  always  set¬ 
tling  these  matters. 

1.  Is  it  expedient  for  your  brother-' 

2.  Is  it  good  for  you? 

3.  Is  it  for  the  glory  of  God? 

As  one  of  the  speakers  suggested  last 
night,  the  noble  eagle  that  had  soared  to 
the  heavens  was  seen  to  drop  slowly  down 
until  it  struck  the  earth  and  lay  gasping 
in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  it  was  found 
that  a  little  weasel  had  fastened  its  fangs 
upon  the  eagle’s  breast  and  had  sucked  its 
life  blood.  The  weasel  had  sprung  upon 
the  eagle  the  moment  it  had  touched  the 
earth,  and  although  the  noble  bird  soared 
yonder  into  the  heavens,  yet  the  hand  of 
death  was  upon  its  heart,  and  it  sank  and 
perished,  because  too  long  it  had  touched 
the  earth  and  received  its  fatal  wound. 
“Wherefore,  come  ye  out  from  among 
them,  and  he  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord, 
and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing;  and  I 
will  receive  you  and  will  he  a  Father  unto 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daugh¬ 
ters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty.” 

*  *  A 

*.>' 

IXSTDIOUS  DANGERS  IN  CONNEC¬ 
TION  WITH  SEPARATION. 

By  REV.  A.  B.  SIMPSON. 

Our  great  adversary  is  very  plausible  in 
reasoning  with  us  on  this  subject  of  sepa¬ 
ration  and  if  he  can’t  hold  us  entirely 
under  his  control  he  wants,  at  least,  to 
get  a  small  mortgage  upon  our  lives  and 
interests.  When  Pharaoh  was  asked  to  let 
Israel  go,  he  first  refused  point  blank,  and 
he  told  them  that  they  could  worship  God 
all  they  pleased,  but  they  must  not  go  out 
of  the  land.  He  rejiresented  the  spirit  of 
the  world,  which  does  not  object  to  our  re¬ 
ligion,  bnt  wants  to  keep  us  in  the  world. 
Next,  when  defeated  at  this  point,  he 
made  a  second  compromise,  and  he  said, 
“Ye  may  go,  but  ye  shall  not  go  very  far.” 
And,  again,  he  next  proposed  that  they 
should  go,  but  leave  their  children.  And 
so  the  world  to-day,  when  it  can’t  get  us 
to  dance  and  go  to  the  theatre,  is  willing 


to  take  our  chihlren,  and  many  a  parent 
allows  his  family  to  do  things  that  he 
would  not  dream  of  doing.  Finally,  Phar¬ 
aoh,  beaten  from  all  other  compromises, 
proposes  that  they  should  take  their  chil¬ 
dren  with  them  and  leave  their  cattle. 
And  when  Satan  can  get  no  other  hold 
upon  us  he  wants  our  money  invested  in 
his  kingdom  and  oiu'  property  controlled 
by  the  spirit  of  the  world. 

I  believe  that  the  prohibition  to  be  un¬ 
equally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers 
applies  to  business  partnerships  just  as 
much  as  to  social  partnerships  and  relig¬ 
ious  compromises.  No  Christian  woman 
has  a  right  to  marry  an  unholy  man  and  no 
minister  of  the  gospel  has  a  right  to  unite 
in  marriage  the  unholy  and  the  sanctified. 
Many  a  woman  has  lost  the  seal  of  God’s 
approval  by  going  to  ungodly  entertain¬ 
ments  and  worldly  amusements  to  please 
an  unsaved  husband,  and  while  trying  to 
influence  him  for  good  she  herself  has 
been  dragged  down.  There  is  a  false 
teaching  prevalent,  that  the  wife  ought  to 
lie  in  such  subjection  to  her  husband  that 
she  would  even  obey  if  he  commanded  her 
to  go  to  the  theatre.  This  is  wholly  un- 
scriptural.  The  authority  of  a  husband 
does  not  extend  to  matters  of  conscience, 
or  tilings  where  God  has  already  given  us 
a  command.  We  cannot  lift  people  up 
until  we  get  above  their  level. 

A  Christian  woman  of  my  acquaintance 
was  once  exposed  to  the  severest  harshness 
from  her  husband  because  she  could  not 
and  would  not  go  with  him  to  social  en¬ 
tertainments  of  a  worldly  character,  and 
for  3'ears  it  was  a  call  to  separation  and 
the  deepest  pain;  but  she  bore  her  trying 
lot  in  Christian  meekness  and  gentleness 
and  the  day  came  ivhen  that  very  man 
was  brought,  by  her  example  and  her 
prayers,  to  see  his  sinful  course  and  to 
give  his  whole  life  in  entire  consecration 
to  the  Saviour  whom  she  had  followed  so 
faithfully;  and  now  he  stands  by  her  side 
in  the  same  separation  and  serHce  in 
which  God  has  so  honored  her. 

The  avTul  condition  of  things  which 
culminated  in  the  deluge  was  brought 
about  b}’’  the  mixing  of  the  people  of  God 
with  the  children  of  the  world,  through 
intermarriage;  and  it  seems  certain  a  sim¬ 
ilar  state  of  things  is  rapidly  deA^eloping 
for  the  more  fearful  judgments  of  tlie  last 
days,  and  it  is  largely  resulting  from  the 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


41 


melting  away  of  the  dividing  line  be¬ 
tween  the  ehiirch  and  the  world,  and  the 
failure  of  God's  people  to  be  true  to  its 
great  purpose  of  separation. 


A  FAITHFUL  AND  WISE  STEWAED. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

“  Who  then  is  that  faithful  and  wise 
steward,  whom  his  Lord  shall  make  ruler 
over  His  household,  to  give  them  their 
portion  of  meat  in  due  season.”  Luke  xii. 
42. 

1.  A  steward  is  one  who  had  nothing  of 
his  own,  but  entrusted  to  administer  to 
anotheFs  profit.  Eleazar  was  the  steward 
of  Abraham,  entrusted  with  his  flocks  and 
herds.  Joseph  was  the  steward  of  Poti- 
phar,  entrusted  with  his  estates.  The 
steward  himself  is  a  kind  of  slave,  all  he 
has  and  is  belongs  to  the  interest  of  his 
master.  So  you  are  a  steward  redeemed 
with  precious  blood.  All  your  service  to 
Him,  never  again  owning  anything  of 
your  own;  your  body,  life,  powers,  con¬ 
sciousness,  will,  faculties,  opportunities, 
capacities,  attainments  and  acquisitions 
are  all  the  Lord’s 

To  speak  of  the  tithe  system.  This 
means  not  the  largest  but  the  smallest 
amount  that  we  can  give  to  the  Lord. 

A  man,  we  will  suppose,  had  a  vineyard 
in  Lebanon  and  lived  in  Crete  and  sent  a 
steward  to  take  charge,  he  might  say  that 
if  the  year  was  unfruitful  that  the  stew¬ 
ard  might  keep  nine-tenths  of  the  fruit¬ 
age  and  send  him  one-tenth.  If  that 
year  the  crop  was  but  ten  bushels  of 
grapes  the  steward  would  keep  nine  bush¬ 
els  for  his  living  and  send  the  one  to  his 
master,  but  if  the  next  year  the  vineyard 
should  yield  1,000  busheis  and  the  steward 
should  keep  900  for  himself,  would  that 
be  a  faithful  return? 

When  God  increases  your  income  He 
means  you  to  take  more  for  Him. 

Now  Avhat  is  a  faithful  steward?  A  man 
may  be  wise  and  yet  not  faithful. 

Faithfulness  renders  to  God  what  is  His. 

Wisdom  studies  to  use  God’s  ]')roporty 
that  it  may  tm'ng  the  largest  gain  to  Him. 

If  you  cannot  use  it  well  give  it  to  some 
one  who  can  wisely  dispose  of  it. 

A  man  once  said  to  me,  “  T  will  give 
you  $1,000  to  spend  for  the  Lord.”  I 


took  the  money  and  I  prayed  over  every 
cent  of  it,  and  to  be  sure  it  was  used  to 
the  best  of  the  light  given.  I  put  along¬ 
side  of  every  $5  1  spent  of  his  money  $5 
of  my  own.  There  is  no  one  thing  brings 
such  rich  blessings  as  in  the  faithful  and 
wise  use  of  money.  If  we  resist  all  the 
temptations  of  the  world  and  bring  all  to 
Him  He  will  pour  out  the  blessing,  i^s  He 
blesses  so  He  curses.  I  knew  a  man  who 
for  twmnty-seven  years  was  prosperous  in 
business  and  after  having  amassed  a  large 
fortune  conceived  a  plan  to  build  a  colos¬ 
sal  house  worth  one  and  a  half  millions. 
He  then  spent  eighteen  months  with  a 
party  of  friends  travelling  at  the  rate  of 
$1,000  a  week  and  buying  the  most  costly 
furniture  for  the  house,  one  clock  alone 
costing  $8,000.  The  end  was,  he  moved 
into  the  house  before  it  was  quite  com¬ 
pleted,  was  stricken  wflth  pneumonia  and 
paralyzed,  failed  in  business  and  owed 
seven  millions.  His  sons  tried  to  go  on 
but  failed  and  there  is  now  left  an  empty 
house  and  four  graves  in  the  churchyard. 

*  ^  ^ 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  AND  MONEY. 

By  REV.  F.  L.  CHAPELL.  D.D. 

The  parable  of  the  unjust  steward  in 
Luke  xvi.  1-15  is  often  perplexing  as  to 
how  Jesus  could  use  this  lesson  of  schem¬ 
ing,  cunning  and  sharp  practice  to  illus¬ 
trate  divine  things. 

In  the  Greek  it  appears  more  clearly 
that  the  Lord  Himself  did  not  commend 
the  unjust  steward,  but  drew  His  own  les¬ 
son  by  comparison. 

I.  What  is  money? 

It  is  the  means  of  sustaining  the  ])res- 
ent  life.  Eight  cents  will  buy  a  loaf  of 
bread;  you  cannot  eat  tlie  eight  cents, 
l)ut  you  can  oat  the  bread;  this  is  an  illus¬ 
tration  of  wliat  is  meant  by  the  first  i>oint. 
It  is  the  money  of  this  world  made  availa- 
])]e  for  life.  Tborofore,  money  is  very  ne¬ 
cessary  and  is  the  ])owor  of  the  present 
age.  Again,  it  is  tlie  -iiroperty  of  man’s 
labor,  'riie  gold  and  silver,  yon  may  say, 
lie  in  the  bosom  of  the  eartli,  but  before 
we  can  use  it  man  must  dig  it,  melt  it  and 
prepare  it  into  coin.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
holy  thing,  for  it  is  the  price  of  strength, 
life  and  toil  of  man. 

If  yon  would  like  to  find  out  the  real 


42 


CHIIISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


value  oi'  one  dollar  go  out  into  the  mine 
or  the  I'arnier's  held  and  you  will  soon 
hnd  the  real  worth  of  every  cent  of  the 
dollar. 

Again,  it  is  called  the  “  main  source  of 
unrighteousness,”  not  that  the  money  is 
unrighteous  of  itself,  but  it  is  called  so 
because  so  closely  identihed  with  the  men 
of  the  v'orld  and  those  who  have  not  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Again,  it  is  called  that  which 
belongs  to  the  “  other,”  meaning  Satan, 
lie  is  the  manager  of  the  monies  of  this 
world. 

II.  What  is  the  Holy  Ghost? 

We  can  now  take  up  the  former  points 
and  apply  them  to  the  Spirit  of  God. 

First. — It  is  the  only  power  by  which 
spiritual  pownr  can  be  sustained.  It  is 
God’s  life,  for  us  made  available  through 
Christ. 

Just  as  money  is  produced  through 
man's  labor  and  trial,  so  the  Holy  Sjiirit 
is  the  product  of  the  life  and  death  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  sustaining  power 
of  spiritual  life.  In  the  third  chapter  of 
Acts,  when  the  apostles  were  asked  for 
alms,  they  gave  such  as  they  had,  not 
money,  hut  the  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  true  riches  and 
wull  supply  every  need. 

The  distinctive  possession  of  the  world 
is  money.  Our  possession  is  the  Holy 
Ghost.  W^e  see  the  unjust  steward  look¬ 
ing  out  for  the  best  of  this  'world,  so  we 
should  look  out  for  the  best  in  the  world 
to  come. 

III.  WJiat  is  the  relation  of  money  to 
the  possessing  of  the  Holy  Ghost? 

First. — Faithfulness  in  the  use  of 
money  is  the  condition  to  receiving  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  we  dare  to  say  that  prob¬ 
ably  the  reason  some  have  not  the  Spirit 
is  because  they  have  not  been  faithful  in 
the  lo'wer  things  and  how  can  they  have 
the  higher  things? 

“  If  therefore  ye  have  not  l)een  faithful 
in  the  unrighteous  mammon,  who  wull 
commit  to  your  trust  the  true  riches?” — 
Luke  xvi.  12. 

IV.  What  is  a  faithful  use  of  money? 

1.  Appreciate  it  for  'ndiat  it  is.  We 

heard  once  a  story  of  a  wealthy  man  who 
was  taking  a  short  journey  and  bought  a 
trinket  of  about  ten  cents  to  carry  back. 
The  friends  thought  him  very  stingy  and 
still  more  so  when  he  found  out  that  the 


little  trinket  was  not  worth  the  ten  cents 
and  w  as  so  disturbed  to  think  that  he  had 
been  cheated  that  it  spoiled  the  whole 
day's  pleasuie  for  him. 

In  one  way  he  was  right  and  in  another 
not.  He  had  learned  to  value  money. 

2.  Appreciate  its  subordinate  place. 

If  man  did  not,  under  Holy  Ghost  relig¬ 
ion,  learn  to  appreciate  the  better  things 
in  this  sphere  when  could  he  learn  to  ap¬ 
preciate  it  in  the  next? 

A  book  may  be  a  help  to  me  to  under¬ 
stand  some  passages  in  the  Word  of  God, 
but  rather  let  us  go  to  the  Teacher,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  who  wull  make  even  the  book 
plain. 

3.  Use  to  furnish  for  the  -n’orking  of 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

“  Make  friends.”  Use  your  money  in 
the  best  way  and  that  is  in  eternal  gain  of 
precious  souls.  How  can  we  invest  in 
soids?  By  bringing  the  Gospel  in  conta  t 
wuth  those  who  have  never  heard  of  Him. 

Men  say,  invest  your  money  well,  put  it 
in  the  savings  bank.  Do  so,  but  in  the 
heavenly  bank  which  wull  bring  you  inter¬ 
est  throughout  all  eternity. 

A  A  A 

THE  MINISTKY  OF  MOXEY. 

By  REV.  J.  II.  GRAY,  D.D.  of  Boston. 

The  eighth  and  ninth  chapters  of  II. 
Corinthians  form  a  classic  on  the  subject 
of  Christian  stew'ardship  or  the  ministry 
of  money.  Paul  was  on  his  way  to  Jeru¬ 
salem;  he  w’as  bearing  an  offering  for  the 
poor  saints  there  from  their  Gentile  breth¬ 
ren  throughout  the  w'orld.  He  wu'ote  to 
them,  with  a  view'  to  prepare  them  for  his 
visit,  so  that  their  offering  would  be  com¬ 
plete  before  his  arrival,  and  there  wmuld 
be  no  hasty  effort  to  get  up  a  special  col¬ 
lection,  but  that  all  would  be  calmly  and 
deliberately  arranged  before  he  came,  as  a 
matter  of  principle  and  not  as  a  matter  of 
pressure.  The  Apostle  gives  se’^'oral  rea¬ 
sons  for  their  beneficence,  wdiich  apply 
just  as  fcrcildy  to  our  times  and  responses 
as  to  theirs. 

I.  Tlie  example  of  the  churclies  of 
Macedonia. 

They  w'ere  ])Oor  and  in  great  alffiction, 
but.  notwuthstanding  their  poveiuy  and 
distress,  they  had  prepared  an  offering  far 
beyond  tlieir  ability,  so  that  lie  had  tried 


CIIUISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


43 


10  dissuiulc  tlieiii  from  giving  so  nniclij 
blit  they  Jiad  prayed  Idui  ivith  much  en¬ 
treaty  that  lie  wonlil  consent  to  accent  it, 
and  he  had  linally  done  so,  because  lie 
saw  that  they  hail  lirst  given  themselves 
to  the  Lord,  and  then  their  gifts  liad  ne¬ 
cessarily  followed.  This  is  the  true  secret 
of  all  right  giving.  The  man  ivho  has 
given  himself  out  and  out,  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  giving  all  that  he  has,  as  the 
poor  Indian,  of  whom  our  brother  told  us, 
who,  when  asked  if  his  gift  of  a  dollar 
was  not  too  much,  replied  ivith  charming 
simplicity,  “  It  would  he  too  much  for  a 
white  man,  but  not  for  an  Indian.” 

II.  The  principle  of  symmetry  in  the 
Christian  character. 

This  is  referred  to  in  the  seventh  verse, 
where  he  speaks  of  the  other  graces  in 
which  they  abound,  and  then  admonishes 
them  to  see  that  they  abound  in  this  grace 
also.  Anything  out  of  proportion  is  a 
blemish,  and  ivhen  Christ’s  children  are 
very  remarkable  for  other  graces,  it  is  ex¬ 
tremely  unbecoming  to  find  them  stingy 
and  inefficient  in  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
and  liberality;  and  yet,  how  many  there 
are  that  can  shout  their  hallelujahs  but 
take  good  care  to  close  their  pocketbooks. 

3.  Tie  reminds  them  of  the  example  of 
the  Lord  Jesus. 

“Though  He  was  rich,  yet  for  our 
sakes  He  became  poor.”  His  poverty  con¬ 
sisted  in  His  bearing  our  sins  and  our 
riches  in  the  salvation  which  He  has 
brought  us.  The  measure  of  our  giving 
will  always  indicate  the  measure  of  our 
appreciation  of  what  He  lias  given  us. 
There  is  a  collection  hox  for  foreign  mis¬ 
sions  in  the  vestibule  of  a  church  where  1 
have  preached,  with  this  inscription: 
“You  have  been  blessed  to-day;  how 
much  have  you  lieen  blessed?  You  will 
show  your  appreciation  by  the  offering 
which  you  have  the  opportunity  of  giving 
in  this  box  for  the  cause  of  foi’oign  mis¬ 
sions.” 

IV.  He  apjieals  to  their  own  purpose 
and  deep  conviction  on  the  subject,  and 
to  the  pledge  which  they  were  so  glad  to 
make  out  and  ofl'er  him,  and  he  calls  upon 
them  to  he  consistent  with  themselves 
and  fulfill  in  deed  what  they  had  i»urpos('d 
in  will. 

V.  He  calls  for  fairness  of  distribution 
in  the  dispensing  of  the  gifts  that  there 
should  be  an  ef|nality  and  that  their  giv¬ 


ing  shoukb  supply  the  inability  of  others 
just  as  the  giving  of  others  at  another 
time  woidd  supply  any  inability  on  their 
part. 

VI.  He  speaks  of  his  boasting  on  their 
behalf,  and  how  he  has  told  the  brethren 
in  other  places  of  their  readiness  to  give; 
and  now  he  appeals  to  them  not  to  allow 
him  to  be  put  to  shame. 

VII.  He  speaks  of  the  reward  of  giving. 
“  He  that  soweth  sparingly  shall  reap  also 
sparingly;  and  he  which  sow^eth  bounti¬ 
fully  shall  reap  also  bountifully.  For  God 
is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward 
you;  that  ye,  always  having  all  sufficiency 
in  all  things,  may  abound  to  every  good 
work.” 

Some  time  ago  God  laid  it  upon  my 
heart  to  make  a  little  sacrifice  in  order 
that  I  might  support  a  native  Bible 
reader  on  the  mission  field.  I  gave  up 
the  idea  of  purchasing  a  new  overcoat, 
which  I  thought  I  needed,  and  a  few 
days  after  this  I  was  visiting  a  friend  in 
Philadelphia,  when  the  lady  of  the  house 
one  day  asked  me  if  I  would  he  offended 
if  she  offered  me  a  very  handsome  over¬ 
coat  which  had  been  given  her  by  a  friend 
whose  husband  had  died.  She  had 
thought  of  sending  it  to  a  missionary  on 
the  frontier,  “  But,”  she  added,  “  I  think 
it  is  rather  too  good  for  a  missionary,  and 
although  my  husband  told  me  I  should 
offend  you  if  I  offered  it  to  you.  yet  I  feel 
impelled  to  do  so,  and  I  hope  you  will  not 
be  tried  with  me.”  I  immediately  said, 
“You  just  bring  that  coat  down  stairs, 
right  away.”  She  lirought  it  down  and  I 
found  it  exactly  fitted  me  with  very  slight 
alterations.  After  I  took  it  home  and  got 
my  tailor  to  alter  it  he  told  me  that  it  was 
a  very  fine  coat,  and  he  added  that  it  ivas 
worth  at  least  $(!()  (the  price  of  a.  Bible 
reader).  I  have  worn  that  coat  for  several 
yc'ai's  and  it  is  still  as  good  as  over.  Thai, 
is  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  the  Lord 
rewarding  us  and  making  all  graci* 
abound  towards  us,  that  we,  always  hav¬ 
ing  all  sufficiency  in  all  things,  may 
abound  to  every  good  woi'k. 

One  day  as  I  was  walking  out  of  our 
Training  Institute,  I  noticed  one  of  the 
students  looking  v('ry  bine  and  asked  him 
if  there  ivas  anything  the  matter.  He 
said  he  was  very  much  behind  with  his 
room  rent  and  had  not  eaten  a  mouthful 
for  a  dav.  t  knew  him  to  b(‘  a  \'iu'V  wor- 


44 


CmUSTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


thy  young  fellow  and  I  said,  Why,  my 
dear  brotlier  would  $10  be  of  any  use  to 
youl”  ••'Why,”  he  said,  •‘that  would  be 
more  than  enough  tor  all  my  needs.”  So 
1  gave  him  the  $10.  A  few  days  after¬ 
wards  I  had  occasion  to  order  a  new  pair 
of  shoes,  and  as  i  was  riding  in  the  street 
car  a  gentleman  spoke  to  me  and  said, 
“  Excuse  me,  sir,  but  I  noticed  yon  in  onr 
store  this  morning  ordering  a  pair  of 
shoes,  and  I  want  to  ask  the  privilege  of 
presenting  them  to  yon.”  I  said,  “  Why, 
sir,  I  thank  yon  very  much,  but  I  have  no 
claim  upon  yon  and  I  cannot  see  any  rea- 
sonaldeness  of  propriety  in  this.”  “  But,” 
he  said,  “  it  is  my  j^rivilege,  and  yon  must 
allow  me  to  insist  upon  it.”  And  so  I  got 
the  Lord’s  shoes,  worth  $10,  as  well  as 
the  Lord’s  overcoat,  and  both  seem  as  if 
they  Avere  going  to  last  me  forever. 

Finally,  the  Apostle  tells  ns  that  the 
ministration  of  this  service  not  only  sup¬ 
plies  the  want  of  the  saints,  but  it  reaches 
God  Himself  in  a  tribute  of  thanksgiving, 
and  it  comes  to  ns  in  a  stream  of  prayer 
and  blessing  from  the  hearts  that  we  have 
comforted  and  cheered.  Just  as  the  rain 
that  goes  up  from  the  earth  in  evapora¬ 
tion  comes  back  again  in  floods  of  bless¬ 
ing,  so  the  love  that  we  bestow  returns  to 
ns  in  the  blessing  that  we  receive.  God  is 
glorified  and  onr  charity  twice  blessed, 
both  to  Him  that  gives  and  him  that 
takes. 

A  A  A 

THE  SIGHS  OF  THE  TIMES 

Ry  REV.  F.  L.  CHAPELL,  D.E. 

The  weight  of  the  testimony  from  the 
signs  of  the  times  lies  in  the  concensus  of 
many  signs.  There  are  missionary  signs, 
there  are  Jewish  signs,  there  are  political 
signs,  there  are  S])iritnal  signs.  With¬ 
out  referring  to  others,  let  ns  confine  our 
attention  to  this  one  remarkable  sign  of 
our  times,  namely,  the  manifest  with¬ 
drawing  of  the  restraining  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  church  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  distinctly  intimated  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  that  there  was  to  he  a  let¬ 
ting  or  restraining  influence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  up  to  a  certain  point,  and  that 
when  this  was  taken  out  of  the  way  then 
the  antichrist  would  he  revealed  in  all  his 
unlimited  power  and  wickedness.  ^Yllat- 


ever  may  be  our  interpretation  of  that 
passage,  and  there  are,  of  course,  many 
interpretations,  this,  at  least,  is  certain, 
that  there  is  a  mystery  of  godliness  on  the 
one  side  and  a  mystery  of  iniquity  on  the 
other,  and  that  each  is  to  grow  more  in¬ 
tense  and  more  antagonistic  until  the 
crisis  of  the  age.  Evil  men  are  to  grow 
worse  and  worse.  The  reason  we  do  not 
see  the  more  open  power  of  evil  is  because 
there  is  a  restraining  Presence  in  the 
world  which  holds  men  back  farther  than 
we  realize. 

There  is,  however,  manifestly  a  steady 
decline  in  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
church  I  am  vividly  reminded  of  a  great 
reidval  of  1847,  and  I  can  recall,  also,  the 
later  revivals  of  the  ’50’s.  These  Avere 
manifestations  rather  of  the  power  of  God 
than  of  the  machinery  of  men.  Men  were 
hushed  and  made  to  feel  that  God  was 
near.  Then,  in  the  decades  lollowing 
the  ’60’s  and  ’70’s  and  ’80’s  there  was 
more  and  more  of  men’s  machinery  and 
less  of  the  marvelous  Avorking  of  God. 

We  have  revivals  to-day,  but  you  will 
note  in  all  of  them  that  man  is  to  the 
front.  They  are  to  have  a  great  reAuval 
in  Boston  this  Avinter,  hut  it  has  all  been 
planned  and  the  machinery  is  very  exten¬ 
sive  and  complete.  kloody,  Murphy, 
Jones  and  others  are  to  be  at  the  head  of 
it.  I  have  no  fault  to  find  Avflth  this,  but 
you  cannot  fail  to  see  how  different  it  was 
AALen  God  Avas  Avont  to  come  in  His  oAvn 
marvelous  Avay.  I  remember  one  of  the 
old-time  revivals  in  ’68  in  Fair  Haven, 
Conn.  There  were  tAvo  sections  of  the 
toAvn  on  opposite  sides  of  the  river.  The 
]AOor  lived  in  one  section  and  the  rich  in 
the  other.  Hr.  Abbott  was  residing  in 
the  fashionable  quarter  of  the  toAvn,  en¬ 
gaged  in  literary  work.  A  congregation 
in  the  other  section  inAuted  him  to  supply 
for  them.  He  told  me  afterwards  that 
he  accepted  their  invitation  and  preached 
to  them  for  a  short  time  in  a  very  quiet 
and  ordinary  manner.  One  Sunday  he 
felt  the  presence  of  God  in  a  remarkable 
Avay,  and  it  occurred  to  him  to  inAute  all 
present  who  desired  to  talk  about  their 
soul’s  salvation  to  call  uiDon  him  at  his 
house  on  the  folloAving  Monday  evening. 
To  his  amazement,  the  next  night  he 
found  his  house  croAvded  with  eager  in¬ 
quirers,  and  a  great  revival  began  which 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


45 


led  to  the  conversion  of  hundreds,  many 
of  them  the  most  profane  and  wicked 
men.  In  those  days  there  was  a  solem¬ 
nity  about  the  meetings  which  to-day  is 
almost  unknown.  Indeed,  many  of  our 
revival  meetings  are  turned  into  a  bur- 
lesqu®.  We  have  the  Gipsy  Evangelist 
and  the  Cowboy  Evangelist  and  all  the 
stage  effects  of  modern  sensationalism. 

What  is  the  effect  of  this?  A  loosing 
of  all  social,  moral  and  spiritual  bonds. 
The  sacredness  of  human  life  is  gone.  In 
those  days  a  murder  was  an  awful  thing. 
Well  do  I  remember  the  crime  of  Dr. 
Webster  in  Harvard  College  that  filled 
the  whole  land  with  horror.  Now,  they 
are  daily  chronicled,  and  the  other  morn¬ 
ing  I  read  of  twenty-two  in  a  single  morn¬ 
ing  paper.  In  the  year  1895  there  were 
10,000  murders  in  the  United  States  and 
only  300  executions,  but  700  lynchings. 
You  may  blame  the  courts,  but  what  are 
they  but  the  reflection  of  a  deeper  state 
of  things  in  the  public  mind?  The  same 
is  true  of  divorces.  Sabbath  observance 
and  every  sort  of  sin  and  crime.  God  is 
taking  away  His  presence  and  the  mystery 
of  iniquity  is  working  and  manifesting  it¬ 
self  in  proportion,  yet  no  one  seems  to 
sense  it. 

If  it  goes  on  at  the  present  rate  what 
will  be  the  state  of  society  a  generation 
hence?  It  can  be  only  what  it  was  before 
the  fall,  when  “God  saw  the  imagination 
of  the  thoughts  of  man’s  heart,  that  it 
was  evil,  and  only  evil  continually.” 

Perhaps  you  will  say  God  will  come 
back  to  His  people.  Well,  He  might  if 
this  were  the  only  sign;  but,  alas,  the  con¬ 
sensus  of  all  the  other  signs  leads  us  to 
believe  that  this  state  of  things  is  the  evi¬ 
dence  of  the  final  declination  and  apos- 
tacy,  that  the  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand, 
that  society  is  breaking  up,  that  the  true 
life  is  leaving  the  body  and  it  is  getting 
ready  for  the  hour  of  judgment  and  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  It  is  a  solemn  time, 
and  all  the  signs  in  the  political,  social, 
ecclesiastical,  spiritual,  and  even  the  nat¬ 
ural,  world,  say  with  deep  solemnity, 
“What  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto  all: 
Watch.” 


JEWISH  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 

By  Rev.  A.  C.  GARBELEIN. 

It  is  remarkable  that  many  of  the  most 
thoughtful  students  of  the  Holy  Scrip¬ 
tures  have  been  looking  forward  for  many 
years,  and  even  centuries,  to  the  close  of 
the  nineteenth  century  as  closely  con¬ 
nected  with  the  end  of  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles.  I  have  a  collection  of  books  in 
German,  Latin  and  other  languages,  all 
weighted  with  this  burden  of  thought  and 
all  looking  forward  to  the  days  in  which 
we  live  as  the  crisis  of  prophecy  and  his- 
ory.  I  was  reading  toMay  a  little  book 
published  in  1840,  written  by  a  Eoman 
Catholic  priest,  who  had  grasped  the  dis- 
pensational  idea,  as  conveyed  in  the  let¬ 
ters  to  the  seven  churches  of  Asia,  and  he 
speaks  of  the  appearing  of  the  Antichrist 
as  only  about  sixty  years  distant. 

As  has  already  been  said,  the  signs  of 
our  times  are  very  numerous,  and  few  are 
more  remarkable  than  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  and  the  full  gospel  in  all  the  world, 
and  the  days  of  ungodliness,  indifference, 
violence  and  the  manifestation  of  the  pow¬ 
ers  of  darkness  that  we  see  around  us,  re¬ 
mind  us  of  the  days  of  Noah  and  of  Lot. 
Every  spiritualistic  medium  in  the  world 
is  but  a  specimen  of  the  work  Satan  is  get¬ 
ting  ready.  When  he  shall  produce  his 
masterpiece,  the  Antichrist,  most  of  the 
evils  of  the  age  will  head  up  in  one  crown¬ 
ing  embodiment  of  wickedness  and  power. 
The  nations,  too,  are  getting  ready  for  the 
world’s  last  battle.  While  travelling  late¬ 
ly  in  southeastern  Russia  and  Romelia,  I 
found  that  that  great  nation  was  erecting 
her  strongest  fortifications  and  massing 
her  most  powerful  armies  with  a  view  to 
reach  the  Mediterranean,  that  great  sea, 
out  of  which  John  saw  the  Antichrist 
arise,  and  which  is  to  be  theatre  of  the 
last  great  event  of  history  as  of  the  first. 

The  signs  of  the  Gentiles  are  sinking 
fast,  and  with  their  passing  come  tlie 
hopes  of  Israel.  This  is,  after  all,  the 
most  wonderful  sign  of  our  times:  the 
movement  towards  the  restoration  of 
God’s  ancient  people. 

1.  The  wonderful  increase  of  the  He¬ 
brew  race  is  most  remarkable.  I  have 
made  very  careful  inquiry,  both  by  pub¬ 
lic  documents  and  private  correspond¬ 
ence,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  pres- 


46 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


ent  population  of  the  Hebrew  people  is  at 
least  14,000,000.  There  are  fully  6,000,- 
000  in  Kussia.  Talking  lately  with  a  Kus- 
sian  officer,  he  remarked  to  me,  “Ten years 
ago,  when  we  began  to  persecute  the  Jews, 
there  were  4,000,000,  now  there  are  6,- 
000,000.  God  is  multiplying  His  people 
as  He  did  in  Egypt,  preparatory  to  their 
deliverance. 

2.  Persecutions  of  Israel  are  just  as  re¬ 
markable  as  their  increase.  They  are  be¬ 
ing  driven  from  most  of  the  eastern  coasts. 
In  Morocco,  recently,  four  Hebrews  were 
murdered  outside  the  city,  and  the  only 
one  that  was  left  brought  the  bodies  in  the 
city  and  made  a  complaint.  The  man  to 
whom  he  spoke  was  a  Moslem,  and  his 
cruel  answer  was,  “  Only  four?  then  let  it 
be  five,”  and,  with  that,  he  shot  the  man 
through  the  heart.  All  this  is  going  on 
with  impunity  in  some  places. 

3.  The  revival  of  nationalism  among 
the  Hebrews  is  the  most  wonderful  fea¬ 
ture  of  the  Jewish  Kenaissance.  The 
most  influential  of  the  Hebrew  papers 
in  London  has  recently  taken  up  the 
patriotic  movement  known  as  the  “Lovers 
of  Zion.”  It  began  with  a  feAV  orthodox 
Hebrews,  and  now  the  whole  race  is  aflame 
with  the  cry,  “  Home  to  Palestine!” 

4.  There  is  a  great  spiritual  movement 
among  the  Jews,  and  God  is  certainly 
blessing  it.  At  the  commencement  of  the 
century,  the  British  Society  for  the  Prop¬ 
agation  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Jews  was 
organized,  but  it  was  poor;  they  had  no 
money.  Suddenly,  God  laid  it  upon  the 
heart  of  one  man,  in  a  most  providential 
manner,  to  give  $350,000  for  this  work. 
There  is  no  more  remarkable  fruit  of 
Christian  w'ork  among  the  Hebrews  than 
Joseph  Eabinowitch,  of  Southern  Eussia. 
Only  to-day  I  received  a  Hew  Year’s  card 
from  this  venerable  man,  with  the  two 
mottoes  in  Hebrew,  “Looking  for  Jeho¬ 
vah,”  “Looking  for  the  Blessed  Hope.” 
He  is  one  of  the  few  Jewish  workers  who 
holds  the  same  principles  which  our  work 
expresses,  namely:  that  we  are  not  to  pros- 
el^e  the  Hebrew  convert,  but  to  leave 
him  among  his  own  people  and  cherish 
national  hope.  Eabinowitch  has  but  a 
small  work,  but  his  influence  extends  all 
over  Europe  and  Southern  Eussia. 

When  I  was  abroad,  I  preached  in  the 
city  of  Lusch.  Now,  there  is  a  congrega¬ 
tion  of  two  to  three  hundred  Jews 


meeting  there  and  listening  to  the 
Word  of  God.  A  similar  work  is  growing 
up  in  Warsaw  and  is  gathering  out  the 
remnant  of  His  people  and  preparing 
them  to  welcome  their  Messiah  and’ meet 
Him  when  He  shall  come. 

A  few  months  ago  I  stood  on  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  great  tower  of  Ivan,  in  Mos¬ 
cow,  and  looked  over  that  wonderful  city. 
I  noticed  that  they  were  gilding  all  the 
crosses  upon  the  countless  churches  and 
decorating  their  roofs,  and  thousands  of 
men  were  busy  at  work  all  over  the  city. 
I  asked  the  guide  what  it  meant.  “Oh,” 
he  said,  “next  May  our  Czar  will  ride 
through  yonder  gate  on  a  white  horse 
with  his  generals  around  him,  and  he  will 
go  into  that  splendid  chapel  and  amid  the 
impressive  ceremonies  of  the  coronation, 
he  will  put  the  crown  of  all  the  Eussias 
upon  his  own  head,  and  we  are  getting 
ready  to  welcome  him.”  0!  I  thought  of  a 
time,  for  which  we  are  looking,  when  the 
King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  riding 
upon  a  white  horse  and  attended  by  myr¬ 
iads  of  saints,  shall  march  down  through 
yonder  starry  gates,  and  some  of  us  shall 
be  permitted  to  welcome  Him  to  His  throne. 
Are  we  getting  ready?  Are  we  not  only 
gilding  the  crosses  but  lifting  the  spirit 
of  the  true  cross  and  planting  it  as  the 
symbol  of  the  gospel  in  every  land  pre¬ 
paring  on  every  mountain  top  torches 
that  will  glow  with  His  welcome  when  He 
comes  again. 

dS  A 

SUNDAY  JAN  3. 

IN  TEUST  WITH  THE  GOSPEL;  IN 
DEBT  TO  THE  WOELI). 

By  REV.  A.  B.  SIMPSON. 

Luke  x\d.  5. 

The  glorious  Gospel  which  committed 
to  my  trust. — I.  Tim.  i.  11. 

A '  stewardship  of  the  Gospel  is  com¬ 
mitted  unto  me. — I.  Cor.  ix.  17. 

I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to 
the  Barbarians. — Eom.  i.  14. 

Three  figures  stand  out  in  bold  relief 
behind  these  passages  of  Scripture, 
namely : — Stewardshi  j).  Trusteeship  and 
Indebtedness.  They  are  all  figures  of 
speech  familiar  to  business  men,  and 
have  to  deal  with  the  transactions  of 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


47 


coiiinion  lil'e.  They  are  intensely  practi¬ 
cal.  There  is  nothing  sentimental  about 
them.  They  deal  with  matters  of  lawful 
obligation  and  common  honesty. 

The  Apostle  Paul  did  not  consider  him¬ 
self  a  hero  when  he  sacrificed  and  labored 
for  the  salvation  of  men.  He  felt  that  he 
was  simply  discharging  a  trust,  and  pay¬ 
ing  a  debt  which  the  simplest  obligations 
of  common  honesty  demanded,  and  when 
he  had  done  all  he  was  still  but  an  unprof¬ 
itable  servant,  having  done  only  what  it 
was  his  duty  to  do.  This  is  Christ’s  ap¬ 
peal  to  us  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  He  puts  it  on  the  ground  of  duty 
to  God  and  debt  to  man. 

A  steward  is  one  who  is  put  in  charge 
of  property  belonging  to  another  person, 
to  administer  it  in  accordance  with  the 
wishes  and  commands  of  the  owner.  It 
is  not  his  property,  and  yet  he  has  every¬ 
thing  to  do  with  it.  But  in  so  doing  he 
is  under  directions  and  subject  to  the 
wishes  of  the  proprietor.  He  is  a  servant, 
and  in  ancient  times  was  usually  a  slave. 
He  is  accountable  to  his  lord  and  required 
to  make  an  explicit  return  of  the  way  in 
which  he  has  discharged  his  stewardship. 

A  trustee  occupies  a  higher  position. 
He  is  one  who  holds  property  committed 
to  him  to  use  for  the  benefit  of  another. 
He  is  not  only  to  consider  the  wishes  and 
interests  of  the  donor,  but  he  is  especially 
to  consider  the  interests  of  the  beneficia¬ 
ries  or  persons  who  are  to  be  relieved  or 
assisted  by  the  kind  bestowment  of  the 
giver.  While  the  steward  has  chiefly  to 
do  with  the  owner,  the  trustee  has  espe¬ 
cially  to  do  with  the  persons  that  are  to 
be  benefltted.  His  office  is  a  higher  one 
than  the  steward.  He  is  selected  because 
of  special  qualifications  and  because  he  is 
trusted  as  worthy  of  peculiar  confidence. 
He  has  full  charge  and  freedom  in  the  ex¬ 
ercise  of  his  trust,  but  he  is  also  account¬ 
able  for  the  manner  in  which  he  fulfills  it. 

A  debtor  is  one  who  owes  an  olfligation 
to  his  fellow,  whether  that  be  through 
trusteeship  or  covenant  of  j)urchasc,  or 
any  lawful  cause.  Now,  we  are  stewaials 
of  God;  we  are  trustees  of  the  Gospel,  and 
we  owe  to  the  world  a  delh  of  love  and 
duty  which  cannot  be  discharged  until 
every  human  being  has  heard  tlie  Gospel 
and  had  a  chance  for  eternal  life. 

What  is  the  extent  of  our  stewardship 
and  trusteeship? 


1.  Our  life  is  a  trust  given  to  us  by  the 
Creator  to  be  used  for  His  glory  and  the 
benefit  of  our  fellow-men,  and  we  have  no 
right  to  waste  a  moment  of  it,  or  use  an 
instant  of  it  for  mere  selfish  gratification 
or  any  sinful  purpose. 

2.  Our  physical  endowments  are  trusts; 
your  health,  your  manly  strength,  your 
womanly  grace,  all  these  are  given  you  by 
God  to  be  used  for  Him,  and  you  have  no 
more  right  to  waste  your  manliood  in 
games  of  folly  or  dance  away  your  woman¬ 
ly  strength  in  the  frivolities  of  fashion 
than  you  would  have  to  take  the  money 
of  your  employer  and  throw  it  into  the 
sea. 

3.  Our  mental  endowments  and  our  ed¬ 
ucation  and  culture  are  sacred  trusts,  and 
we  have  no  right  to  employ  them  for  self- 
aggrandizement  or  our  own  glory,  but  to 
use  them  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
service  of  man.  Oh,  the  splendid  intel¬ 
lects  that  are  used  by  the  enemy  to  sow 
the  insidious  seeds  of  poison  in  human 
hearts.  Oh,  the  sweet  voices  that  are 
singing  innumerable  souls  to  the  pit  of 
woe!  Oh,  the  eloquence  that  is  instilling 
immorality  into  the  hearts  of  millions! 
'Wliat  a  frightful  condemnation,  what  a 
wail  of  agony  when  God  shall  call  them 
to  His  bar  and  say,  Give  an  account  of 
thy  stewardship,  tor  thou  shaft  be  no 
longer  steward.” 

4.  Your  personal  influence  is  a  sacred 
trust.  Have  you  about  you  a  magnetism 
that  draws  pco])le  to  you,  an  attractive¬ 
ness  of  manner  or  person  that  makes  you 
the  centre  of  your  circle?  Have  you  a 
power  to  persuade  and  control  the  minds 
and  lives  of  others?  It  is  an  awful  trust, 
and  better  you  had  never  been  born  tluni 
that  you  should  use  it  for  your  own  am¬ 
bition  or  self-aggrandizcjiient. 

5.  Your  social  positii  n  is  a  trust  for 
God.  Just  as  God  put  Joseph  iti  a  kitch¬ 
en  and  a  dungeon,  and  afterward  on  a 
throne,  that  lie  Tiiiglit  use  him  in  both 
places;  just  as  He  ))ut  Ifsther  and  Daniel 
in  the  great  centres  of  the  world’s  ])ower 
that  they  might  be  His  instruinents  there 
in  accomplishing  His  ])ur])()scs,  so  He  has 
put  some  of  you  in  the  laundry  that  you 
might  bring  your  mistress  umler  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  truth  that  has  hlessc'd  you; 
and  He  has  put  some  of  you  in  the  high¬ 
est  social  positions  that  you  in  tiuai  might 
I'each  those  around  you.  1  know  a  lady  in 


48 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


Washington  who  has  access  to  the  highest 
social  circles,  who  has  gone  to  Presiden¬ 
tial  receptions  and  the  highest  social  gath¬ 
erings  for  many  years,  not  for  her  own 
pleasure  at  all,  but  to  carry  to  foreign  am¬ 
bassadors  and  the  men  and  women  of  the 
highest  positions  the  story  of  what  God 
has  done  for  her,  and  has  often  been  used 
as  a  living  ejiistle  with  persons  who  woidd 
not  have  road  the  Word  of  God  for  them¬ 
selves. 

Gh,  dear  friend,  as  you  look  around 
your  elegant  surroundings  and  your  social 
kingdom,  ask  “  How  much  owest  thou?” 
and  to  remember  that  to  nse  these  things 
for  your  own  selfish  pride  would  be  as 
base  an  idolatry  as  it  was  Nebuchadnezzar 
to  say  “  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I 
have  built  for  the  strength  of  my  king¬ 
dom  and  the  honor  of  my  majesty?” 

6.  Your  business  success,  your  means 
and  your  money  are  part  of  your  trust. 
The  real  centre  of  human  power  to-day 
is  found,  not  in  foreign  courts  and  earth¬ 
ly  thrones,  but  in  the  council  chambers 
of  great  financial  corporations  and  in  the 
hands  of  our  merchant  princes  and  finan¬ 
cial  kings.  Commerce  is  to-day  the  great¬ 
est  power  on  the  glohe,  except  the  power 
of  God.  It  has  taken  hold  of  the  secrets 
of  science,  and  is  making  hhem  tributary 
to  men's  enterprise.  If  has  stolen  the 
lightning  from  the  skies  and  harnessed 
the  stream  which  it  has  wrung  from  the 
coal  mines  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and 
made  them  tributary  to  its  mighty  enter¬ 
prises  .  It  is  startling  the  age  wifh  some 
new  wonder  every  month,  and  the  tele¬ 
phone,  the  phonograph,  the  cathode  ray 
and  the  marvellous  inventions  which  are 
multiplying  from  day  to  day  are  repeat¬ 
ing  the  story  of  Babel,  for  man  is  build¬ 
ing  a  tower  to  reach  even  unto  heaven, 
and  by  these  material  forces  endeavoring 
to  supply  the  Omnipotence,  Omniscience 
and  Omnipresence  of  God  and  he  a  God 
unto  himself. 

Now  these  are  the  places  where  God 
wants  man  to  represent  Him;  to  bring  all 
these  treasures  of  human  skill  and  power 
and  pride  to  lay  at  His  feet.  Men  think 
nothing  of  spending  $20,000,000  to  build 
a  transcontinental  railroad,  or  hold  a  con¬ 
trolling  interest  in  some  financial  corpo¬ 
ration.  God  is  looking  for  men  who  will 
spend  as  much  in  the  grander  enterprise 
of  the  world’s  evangelization  and  in  build¬ 


ing  a  line  of  Gospel  light  across  the  dark 
lands  that  know  not  Jesus. 

Commerce  sends  her  latest  products  to 
the  heart  of  China  and  Thibet,  but  the 
Gospel  has  been  eighteen  centuries  reach¬ 
ing  the  borders  of  these  lands.  The  men 
of  this  Eepublic  think  nothing  of  spend¬ 
ing  twelve  to  twenty  millions  in  a  single 
Presidential  election,  but  it  would  take 
the  church  of  America  two  or  three  years 
to  spend  that  much  in  making  Jesus  King 
by  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen. 
The  theatres  of  New  York  City  alone  re¬ 
ceive  more  mone}'  in  a  single  year  than  all 
the  Christians  of  America  give  annually 
to  spread  the  Gospel.  The  citizens  of 
New  York  spend  $60  a  year  per  head  for 
wine,  whiskey  and  beer,  and  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  spend  10  cents  a 
head  per  annum  in  sending  the  Gospel  to 
the  heathen!  Six  hundred  times  as  much 
for  the  devil  as  for  the  Lord.  The  gen¬ 
tlemen  of  New  York  sit  down  to  a  dinner 
every  night  in  the  week  in  some  of  our 
fashionable  restaurants  at  which  each 
plate  costs  more  than  enough  to  support 
a  native  worker  for  a  whole  year,  and  the 
ladies  of  New  York  spend  as  much  at  a 
single  ball  in  many  fashionable  circles  as 
would  support  twenty  missionaries  under 
the  Alliance  in  India  for  a  year 

Don’t  you  think  God  wants  somebody 
to  show  what  stewardship  means?  What 
an  awful  hour  when  these  men  and  women 
stand  before  the  throne,  looking  in  the 
faces  of  millions  of  lost  ones  to  God,  and 
account  for  their  stewardship! 

A  gentleman  was  sitting  at  his  desk 
counting  over  some  banknotes,  when  a 
friend  called  and  asked  for  a  donation  for 
a  missionary  object,  pleasantly  adding, 
“  Suppose  you  give  me  a  hundred  dollars 
from  that  pile.”  “  Oh,”  said  his  friend, 
“  these  are  trust  funds.”  “  Ah,”  said  the 
agent,  “  I  wonder  if  there  are  any  fund^ 
that  are  not  trust  funds.”  Yes,  beloved, 
friend,  money  is  all  a  trust  fund,  and 
some  day  you  shall  give  an  account  of  your 
stewardship. 

7.  Your  religious  privileges  are  trusts. 
Your  salvation  is  not  your  own;  you  were 
redeemed  that  you  might  save  some  one 
else.  Your  religious  experience  is  not 
vour  own.  Your  temptations  and  trials 
have  all  come  to  you  that  you  misht  help 
others  that  have  been  similarly  tried. 
And  above  all  else,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  your 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


49 


sacred  trust.  He  is  given  you  for  tlie  tak¬ 
ing,  that  through  Him  you  might  be  able 
to  do  your  full  duty,  and  accomplish  more 
than  in  your  own  strength  you  possibly 
could.  May  you  remember  that  you  are 
responsible  to  God,  not  only  for  what  you 
are  able  to  accomplish,  but  for  what  the 
Holy  Ghost  would  accomplish  through 
you  if  you  would  let  Him.  This  is  the 
pound  in  the  parable  which  your  Master 
has  given  you  to  invest  and  use  for  Him. 
God  help  you  to  take  it  and  use  it  so  that 
it  shall  be  given  back  tenfold. 

9.  Our  supreme  trust  as  the  disciples  of 
Christ  is  the  glorious  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  given  to  us  not  for 
our  own  personal  enjoyment  and  salvation 
merely,  but  that  we  may  hold  it  in  trust 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind  and  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  all  our  race  who  are  willing  to  ac¬ 
cept  it.  Not  to  do  this  is  simply  a  breach 
of  trust,  and  such  conduct  in  human  af¬ 
fairs  would  be  considered  a  felony  and  a 
crime  and  would  be  punished  in  the  se¬ 
verest  manner  by  the  laws  of  every  civi¬ 
lized  nation. 

A  few  years  ago  a  man  in  one  of  our 
cities  succeeded  in  establishing  a  home  for 
poor  children.  By  his  artful  appeals  he 
succeeded  in  obtaining  very  large  amounts 
of  money  from  the  too  confiding  public, 
but  it  was  found  that  the  children  of  the 
home  were  suffering  from  the  most  cruel 
neglect.  Suspicion  was  aroused,  and  an 
investigation  made,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  he  had  been  selfishly  hoarding  the 
contributions  to  amass  a  fortune  for  him¬ 
self,  and  that  while  he  was  living  in  lux¬ 
ury  a  hundred  poor,  haggard,  gaunt, 
starving  children  were  languishing  in 
cold,  nakedness  and  want.  When  the 
facts  were  brought  to  light  before  a  court 
of  justice  and  these  poor  victims  of  his 
neglect  were  brought  out  before  the  pub¬ 
lic  gaze,  the  indignation  of  the  communi¬ 
ty  could  scarcely  be  restrained,  and  he  was 
driven  from  his  position  and  justly  hurled 
to  a  felon’s  cell  to  suffer  in  bis  own  person 
some  of  the  cruelties  that  his  unfaithful¬ 
ness  had  inflicted  uj)on  others.  This  is 
the  meaning  of  unfaithfulness  to  our 
trust. 

Wliat  must  the  Heavenly  Father  think 
as  His  poor  perishing  ehildren  are  lifting 
up  their  wan  faces  and  their  bony  fingers 
in  entreaty  to  Him,  and  going  forth  in 
one  long  and  ceaseless  procession  of  de- 


sjiair  to  their  eternal  destiny  while  we 
are  enjoying  the  hopes  and  privileges 
which  cost  our  Kedeemer  His  precious 
life,  and  saying  with  self-complacency, 
“  1  am  rich  and  increased  with  goods  and 
have  need  of  nothing.”  Surely  the  day 
will  come  Avhen  His  voice  of  thunder  shall 
shake  us  from  our  indifference  as  it  calls 
in  our  ears,  “  The  voice  of  thy  brother’s 
blood  crietli  unto  Me  from  the  ground? 
Where  is  the  soul  of  thy  brother?” 

Yes,  dear  friends,  there  is  a  day  of  ac¬ 
count  coming  to  us  as  surely  as  it  came 
to  the  unfaithful  stew^ard  Have  you  ever 
thought  how  the  unfaithful  steward  of 
God’s  money  must  feel  the  moment  after 
death?  Suppose  even  he  should  pass  into 
the  presence  of  his  Redeemer  and  in  the 
light  of  heaven  see  and  know  as  he  is 
known  What  must  it  be  for  him  to  look 
down  and  see  the  money  that  is  left  be¬ 
hind  him  squandered  by  selfish  and  worth¬ 
less  heirs  and  see  also  what  it  might  have 
done  in  the  salvation  of  hundreds  of  souls 
to  whom  he  could  have  sent  the  gospel? 
What  must  it  be  for  him  to  see  the  ran¬ 
somed  ones  coming  home  to  heaven 
through  the  benevolence  of  others  that 
he  has  known,  while  no  harvest  ever 
reaches  him  from  generous  sowing,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  permitted  to  see  the 
despair  of  thousands  that  he  could  have 
reached  and  did  not,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  see  the  curse  that  has  followed  his  ill- 
used  riches  even  among  his  family  and 
friends  whom  perhaps  he  sought  to  bene¬ 
fit,  but  whom  he  could  only  harm  by  giv¬ 
ing  them  the  stolen  treasures  which 
should  have  been  laid  u])on  the  altar  of 
God? 

Before  that  day  comes  lot  me  ask  you 
to  go  over  the  account  and  settle  it  with 
the  Judge  while  you  may.  lie  is  asking 
you  to-day,  tenderly  aiid  solemnly  asking, 
“Hoav  much  owest  thou  unto  my  Lord?” 

Roul  redeemed  by  the  precious  blood 
of  desus  and  rejoicing  in  your  hope  of 
heaven,  how  much  owest  thou  to  those 
who  could  not  be  saved  if  they  would? 

Man  or  woman  delivered  from  sickness 
or  danger  at  some  ])ast  moment  in  your 
life,  vdicn  you  ]»romised  God  that  if  He 
would  spare  you  or  deliver  you,  you  would 
live  for  Him  and  others,  how  have  you 
kept  your  pledge;  how  Ttiueh  owest  thou 
unto  my  Lord? 

Brother,  on  your  way  to  heaven,  look- 


50 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


iug  forward  to  that  time  when  you  shall 
lay  your  head  upon  the  bosom  of  your 
Ijord  and  breathe  your  life  out  into  His 
arms,  think  of  those  who  are  dying  to¬ 
day  in  heathen  lands  wdth  no  hope,  no 
light  but  the  presence  of  demons  and  the 
darkness  of  despair,  and  ask  how  much 
ow'est  thou  unto  my  Lord? 

Friend,  wdio  have  seen  your  loved  ones 
pass  into  the  world  above  with  dying 
shouts  and  songs  of  victory,  and  your 
tears  w^ere  wdped  aw’ay  as  you  bade  them 
good-ljye,for  it  was  not  death,  and  through 
the  gates  ajar  you  knew^  tdey  were  with 
the  Lord,  where  you  should  join  them  in 
a  little  while,  oh,  think  of  the  sad  and 
lonesome  deathbeds  of  heathen  lands 
where  there  is  no  hope  beyond,  no  glad 
good-bye  until  we  meet  in  heaven,  noth¬ 
ing  but  the  dark  unkno-wn,  the  funeral 
without  a  ray  of  light,  a  grave  wdthout  a 
hope  beyond,  and  oh,  tell  me,  how  much 
owest  thou  unto  my  Lord? 

Mother,  clasping  fondly  your  darling 
to  your  breast  or  laying  her  to-night  on 
her  little  cot  and  downy  pillow,  think  of 
the  baby  girls  in  China  who  are  flung  to¬ 
day  to  the  vultures  and  the  dogs  because 
their  mothers  know"  not  your  Redeemer, 
and  tell  ine  how  much  ow"est  thou  unto 
my  Lord? 

Maiden,  in  the  proud  consciousness  of 
your  womanly  honor  and  purity,  wdth  all 
your  privileges  and  prospects  as  a  Chris¬ 
tian  girl,  think  of  your  sisters  yonder  in 
India  and  Japan,  dedicated  from  their  in¬ 
fancy  often  to  a  life  of  shame,  and  so  dark 
that  they  do  not  even  know  that  it  is 
shame.  Oh,  look  at  them  as  you  shall  see 
them  some  day  in  the  Judgment  and  an¬ 
swer  hoAv  much  ow^est  thou  unto  my  Lord? 

This,  beloved,  is  our  trust.  How"  touch¬ 
ing  is  that  w"ord  trust.  It  means  that  the 
]\Iaster  trusts  us  to  finish  His  work  and 
co-operate  with  Him  in  His  high  purpose 
for  the  wmrld's  redemption.  The  trustee 
is  more  than  a  steward.  Stew'ardship  is 
rather  the  Old  Testament  idea;  trustee¬ 
ship  the  New  Testament  conception.  The 
stew"ard  might  be  a  slave;  the  trustee  is  a 
friend.  Paul  seems  to  refer  to  this  w"hen 
he  says  in  I.  Cor.  ix.  16-18  that  as  a  stew¬ 
ard  he  has  no  choice  in  the  matter,  neces¬ 
sity  is  laid  upon  him;  yea,  woe  be  unto 
him  if  he  preach  not  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
But  in  the  fulfillment  of  this  stew"ardship 
there  is  a  higher  place  to  which  we  may 


rise  voluntarily,  as  a  trustee  for  men,  and 
do  His  w'ork  in  the  spirit  of  generous  sac¬ 
rifice  and  w"ithout  charge,  and  for  this  he 
says  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  Now"  God 
gives  us  the  high  privilege  and  honor  of 
choosing  to  be-  His  trustees  in  the  same 
spirit  in  wliich  the  Master  Himself  w"ould 
do  the  w'ork  if  He  were  here.  Oh!  shall 
we  be  worthy  of  His  confidence? 

It  is  one  thing  to  trust  God,  but  it  is  a 
grander  thing  for  God  to  be  able  to  trust 
us.  Shall  w"e  be  men  and  women  on  whom 
our  IMaster  can  depend,  and  of  whom  He 
can  say,  as  He  said  of  Abraham:  “  I  know 
him  that  he  w"ill  do  what  the  Lord  com¬ 
manded,  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon 
him  all  that  He  has  promised.”  Beloved, 
He  has  left  us  this  sacred  trust;  He  has 
given  us  an  honor  and  a  service  for  which 
any  angel  would  gladly  leave  his  throne. 
Shall  He  find  us  true? 


THE  OPPORTUNITIES,  RESPONSI¬ 
BILITIES  AND  POSSIBILITIES 
OF  OUR  TIMES. 

By  REV.  J.  11.  GRAY,  D.D.  of  Boston. 

It  is  only  in  the  present  day  that  we 
have  begun  to  know"  w"hat  the  w"orld  really 
is.  It  was  only  yesterday  that  Nansen 
discovered  real  facts  about  the  North 
Pole.  He  has  not  been  there  yet  quite, 
but  he  has  found,  at  least,  that  there  is 
no  land  there  and  no  living  thing.  Only 
in  our  day  have  the  gates  of  all  the  na¬ 
tions  been  opened,  and  Korea,  Japan,  and 
even  Thibet,  brought  into  the  line  of  the 
missionary  host;  and  God’s  Spirit  has  been 
moving  as  mightily  as  Flis  providence. 
Multitudes  of  souls  have  been  aw"akened 
and  saved.  Many  are  going  forth  and  yet 
more  are  wanting  to  go  to  carry  the  glad 
tidings  to  the  w"aiting  nations.  Obstacles 
have  been  removed;  distance  annihilated; 
dangers  overcome;  new  agencies  devel¬ 
oped;  new  lessons  learned,  and  new"  and 
mighty  impulses  awakened  for  the  accom¬ 
plishing  of  the  work.  The  ministry  of 
w"omen  has  come  to  the  front,  and  our 
sisters  are  permitted  to  enter  lands  whose 
threshold  even  men  could  not  cross. 

What  a  responsil)ility  all  this  throw's 
upon  us,  not  only  for  our  own  salvation, 
but  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 


CHRISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


51 


God  is  beginning  to  lay  this  responsibility 
on  the  hearts  of  business  men. 

There  is  a  merchant  in  Boston  who  is 
the  only  man  who  has  been  making 
money  in  his  line  during  these  times  of 
financial  depression,  and  -yet  this  very 
man  has  been  supporting  several  mission¬ 
aries  all  through  the  hard  times,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  prosperity  he  en¬ 
joys  is  the  seal  of  God  upon  a  faithful 
steward. 

If  only  the  whole  heart  of  the  church 
of  Christ  was  awakened  to  a  practical  un¬ 
derstanding  of  our  times  and  a  real  sym¬ 
pathy  with  the  heart  of  Christ,  the  whole 
world  could  be  evangelized  in  ten  years. 
The  greatest  incentive  to  this  work  is  the 
hope  of  the  Lord’s  coming.  There  are 
some  who  tell  us  that  this  cuts  the  nerves 
of  missionary  zeal,  but  the  strange  fact  re¬ 
mains,  that  the  most  successful  mission¬ 
ary  workers  of  our  time  are  all  men  who 
believe  profoundly  in  this  blessed  hope. 

God  grant  that  the  people  of  God  may 
be  enabled  so  to  understand  the  mighty 
possibilities  and  the  vast  responsibilities 
of  the  times  we  live  in  that  we  shall  go 
forth  through  these  last  years  of  the  cen¬ 
tury  to  accomplish  as  much  in  a  single  de¬ 
cade  as  has  been  accomplished  in  all  the 
ages  of  the  past. 

4  -f- 

GOD  ALL  IN  ALL. 

By  REV.  A.  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

I.  Cor.  XV.  This  is  the  most  magnifi¬ 
cent  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  last 
things  which  God  has  revealed  to  us  in  His 
Word.  It  contains  150  words  in  the  Eng¬ 
lish  and  130  in  tlie  Greek.  It  presents 
seven  points:  First,  the  death  of  the  race 
in  Adam;  second,  the  resurrection  of  the 
race  in  Christ,  the  last  Adam;  third,  the 
second  coming  of  Christ;  fourtli,  tlie  res¬ 
urrection  of  the  saints  at  His  coming; 
fifth,  the  reign  of  Christ;  sixtli,  the 
subjection  of  all  His  foes,  all  authority, 
all  rule,  all  enemies,  all  power,  and  death 
itself;  seventh,  surrender  of  the  kingdom 
to  God  and  His  Father,  who  will  be  all  in 
all. 

O’his  magnificent  picture  commences 
with  the  fall  of  man  and  it  ends  with  the 
supremacy  of  God.  In  the  beginning 


God;  in  the  end  God  all  in  all.  There 
are  eight  “  alls  ”  in  this  passage  and  the 
last  is  all-in-all. 

This  sublime  passage  gives  the  key  to 
four  great  mysteries,  namely:  the  mystery 
of  history,  the  mystery  of  the  kingdom, 
the  mystery  of  destiny  and  the  mystery  of 
duty. 

I.  History.  Without  God  it  is  a 
tangled  maze.  Man  was  created  with 
three  great  dignities.  First,  a  prophet; 
second,  a  priest;  third,  a  king.  With  his 
fall  he  lost  his  prophetic  dignity,  as  the 
representative  and  revealer  of  God;  his 
priestly  honor,  as  one  brought  near  to  the 
Father;  and  his  rule  over  himself  and  the 
creation.  The  last  Adam — Jesus  Christ 
— came  to  restore  these  three  high  call¬ 
ings,  and,  therefore.  He  appears  as  our 
Prophet,  Priest  and  King;  and  He  brings 
us  into  the  same  glorious  place  of  privi¬ 
lege  and  service:  to  be  the  witnesses  for 
God;  to  be  the  priests  for  the  world;  and 
to  be  the  workers,  first,  over  our  own 
kingdom,  and  then  to  share  His  sover¬ 
eignty. 

II.  The  mystery  of  the  kingdom. 
There  are  four  aspects  of  Christ’s  rule 
here.  First,  the  church  kingdom,  which 
is  to  be  merged  in  Christ;  second,  the 
world  kingdom,  which  is  to  be  conquered; 
third,  the  devil’s  kingdom,  which  is  ta  be 
abolished;  fourth,  death’s  kingdom,  which 
is  to  be  destroyed. 

III.  The  mystery  of  destiny.  Here, 
again,  there  are  four  steps  unfolded:  First, 
the  destruction  of  all  adversaries;  second, 
the  salvation  of  the  saints;  tliird,  the  sur¬ 
render  of  tlie  kingdom  to  the  Father; 
fourth,  the  supremacy  of  God — all  in  all. 

TV.  The  mystei'y  of  duty.  This  is  the 
juactical  side  of  it.  It  means  in  our  own 
character  God  is  to  be  all  in  all,  the  first 
and  the  last.  It  means  that  w('  are  to 
translate  the  Tjord’s  prayer  into  our  lives 
arid  that  tfie  watchword  of  our  being  sball 
be:  Hallowed  be  Thy  Name;  H’hy  king¬ 
dom  come;  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven.  It  means  that  wc  shall 
first  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness;  and  it  means  that  we  shall 
rule  in  our  little  empire  of  character  and 
influence  and  band  over  the  sceiitre  to 
Him  as  our  all  in  all. 

Beloved,  there  are  two  processions  mov¬ 
ing  onward.  One  is  marching  to  eternal 
death  and  shame,  and  in  that  procession 


52 


CHKISTMAS  CONVOCATION. 


are  the  noble,  as  well  as  the  filthy  and 
abominable.  But  there  is  another  proces¬ 
sion — the  blood-washed  and  ransomed 
ones  with  the  banner  of  Christ  waving 
over  their  hearts  and  the  palms  of  victory 
in  their  hands.  They  are  pressing  on  to 
that  glorious  day  when  they  shall  lay  the 
crowns  and  sceptres  at  His  feet. 

Beloved,  where  are  you  in  all  this,  and 
what  has  all  this  convocation  meant  for 
you?  Has  He  begun  to  be  your  first,  and, 
oh!  shall  He  be  your  last? 


*  *  * 


THE  CALL  FOB  THE  CONVOCATION 

Besides  the  brethren  whose  addresses  are 
reported  in  the  preceding  pages,  letters  of 
cordial  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the 
meeting  were  received  from  Eev.  James 
H.  Brookes,  D.  1).,  St.  Louis;  Prof.  Cro- 
zier  and  Prof.  ]\Ioorhead,  Eev.  Dr.  Stev¬ 
ens,  Eev.  Dr.  Scofield,  Eev.  Dr.  Erdman, 
Bishop  Nicholson,  Eev.  Dr.  Thompson, 
Edinburgh;  Mr.  H.  W.  Frost,  Toronto; 
Eev.  Dr.  West,  Syracuse;  Eev.  Henry  C. 
j\Iabie,  Boston,  and  many  others  who 
Avete  prevented  by  unavoidable  reasons 
from  attending. 

We  append  the  call  for  the  Convention, 
which  Avas  signed  by  most  of  the  above 
names  and  Avhich  expresses  Avith  great 
force  and  fulness  the  objects  of  the  con¬ 
ference. 

A  SOLEMN  CALL  TO  GOD’s  PEOPLE. 

The  close  of  the  present  year,  1896, 
really  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century,  as  it  is  admitted  that  the 
so-called  Aera  Dionysius  (A.D.)  began 
four  years  too  late.  If  so,  the  birth  of 
our  blessed  Lord  reaches  this  year  its 
nineteen  hundredth  anniversary. 

Surely  this  is  a  fit  season  for  a  very  un¬ 
usual  celebration,  that  should  be  no  ordi¬ 
nary  holiday  Avith  its  Avorldly  gayety  and 
display,  but  a  true  holy  day  unto  the 
liord,  Avith  a  grateful  commemoration  of 
the  birth,  life,  death  and  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  and  a  devout  humiliation  in  view 
of  all  past  unfaithfulness  to  His  doctrine. 
His  example.  His  commands  and  His 
great  commission,  and  a  more  complete 


separation  unto  a  life  of  holiness  and  of 
serAMce. 

It  is  but  too  sadly  obAuous  that  never 
in  the  history  of  these  nineteen  centuries 
has  the  Avorld  more  encroached  upon  the 
church  or  the  church  been  more  assimi¬ 
lated  in  the  world.  The  amazing  decline 
in  doctrinal  soundness,  the  decay  of  vital 
piety  and  spirituality,  the  godless  e.xtrav- 
agance  prevailing  even  among  disciples, 
the  abounding  conformity  to  the  Avorld, 
the  practical  denial  of  Christian  steAvard- 
ship,  the  neglect  of  private  prayer,  the 
groAving  indift'erenee  to  public  Avorship, 
the  vastness  of  the  unoccupied  field  of 
missions,  and  the  utter  inadequacy  of 
present  means  and  methods  to  OA'ertake 
this  destitution — these,  and  many  other 
evils  and  parables  noAV  confronting  us, 
demand  such  a  neAV  standard  of  holy  liv¬ 
ing  and  giving,  praying  and  preaching, 
denying  of  self  and  serving  of  God,  as 
can  never  become  actual  AAdthout  a  neAV 
Pentecost  from  above. 

After  much  prayer  and  conference 
among  brethren,  it  has  been  determined 
to  call  a  ten  days’  meeting  at  NeAV  York 
City,  from  Thursday,  December  24th,  to 
and  including  Sunday,  Januarj'  3d,  1897. 

To  this  gathering,  in  Avhich  no  name 
Avill  be  knoAvn  as  the  centre  of  attraction 
save  Jesus  only,  all  disciples  who  love  His 
name,  trust  in  His  blood,  own  His  au¬ 
thority,  honor  His  Spirit,  and  wait  for  His 
coming,  are  cordially  invited.  The  meet¬ 
ings  Avill  be  held  at  the  Gospel  Tabernacle, 
Eighth  avenue  and  Forty-fourth  street,  at 
10  A.  M.,  3  P.  M.  and  7  P.  M.  daily,  ex¬ 
cept  on  Sundays,  when  the  American  The¬ 
atre  is  to  be  used  for  the  assemblies. 

Those  who  cannot  meet  Avith  us  are  as 
cordially  invited  to  join  in  prayer  for  a 
new  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  all  dis¬ 
ciples,  the  immediate  opening  of  all  doors 
now  closed  to  mission  advance,  the  rais¬ 
ing  up  of  an  adequate  missionary  force, 
and  the  universal  awakening  of  disciples 
to  the  duty  of  a  world’s  evangelization. 

It  is  proposed  to  crown  and  complete 
this  gathering  by  a  spontaneous  offering 
to  world-AA'ide  missions  to  be  distribAited 
according  to  the  choice  of  the  individual 
contributors,  so  far  as  designated;  the  re¬ 
mainder  to  be  used  as  may  be  determined 
by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  confer¬ 
ence. 


Leading  Standard  Yolunies 

—BY— 

REV.  A.  R.  SIMPSON. 


Christ  in  the  Bible. 

A  ^iritual  exposition  of  the  Scriptures  especially 
helpful  in  the  study  of  the  Word. 

On  hand,  JOSHUA,  price,  $2.00. 

ROMANS,  price,  $2.00. 

A  Barger  Christian  Bife.  Price,  $1.00. 

Eleven  chapters  leading  the  reader  into  the  larger 
thoughts  of  God  for  his  life. 

The  Fullness  of  Jesns,  or  The  Revelation  of  Christ 
in  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  Price,  $1.00. 

The  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  Price  $1.00. 

Only  volume  on  the  Lord’s  Coming. 

Tbe  Names  of  Jesns.  Price,  $1.00. 

Revealing  the  different  attributes  of  Christ 

The  Band  of  Promise.  Price,  $1.00. 

An  inspiring  volume,  showing  our  privileges  in 
Christ. 

Walking  in  the  Spirit.  Price  $1.00. 

Walking  in  Bove.  Price  $r.oo. 

Most  practical  and  helpful  books  for  the  trials  of 
our  daily  life. 

In  Heavenly  Places.  Price  $1.00. 

Sermons  on  the  higher  Christian  life. 

Friday  Meeting  Talks.  Price  60  cents. 

Specially  helpful  on  Divine  Healing. 

The  Bife  of  Prayer.  Price,  75c. 

Chapters  on  the  inner  life. 

The  Bove  Bife  of  our  Bord.  Price,  60c. 

Beautiful  exposition  of  the  Song  of  Solomon. 

Wholly  Sanctified.  Price  50c. 

One  of  the  most  helpful  volumes. 


lillNS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 


COMPOSED  AND  EDITED  BY 


CAPT.  R.  KELSO  CARTER  AND  REV.  A.  B.  SIMPSON. 


This  beautiful 
Hymnal  is  now  too 
well  known  toneed 
introduction.  It 
has  been  carefully 
arranged  under 
topics,  and  covers  a 
wider  classification 
than  any  other 
book;  the  o  n  1  3' 
hymn -book  in 
which  our  friends 
can  find  expression 
for  a  large  class  of 
spiritual  needs  and 
emotions,  especial¬ 
ly  with  reference 
to  the  Lord's  Heal¬ 
ing,  our  deeper  life 
in  Christ,  His  Com¬ 
ing,  Missions,  etc. 

The  music  is  ver3' 
stirring,  and  there 
area  few  h3’mns  in 
the  book, the  popu¬ 
larity  of  which  are 
justly  considered 
worth  the  price  of  the  whole  volume.  While  it  con¬ 
tains  a  great  many  new  evangelistic  h3'mus,  it  has 
also  a  large  number  of  the  old  standard  h3'mns  of 
worship,  and  is  suitable  either  for  regular  church 
worship,  devotional  meetings,  or  special  ocra.sioiis. 
Special  terras  are  made  for  churches,  congregations, 
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NEW  BOOKS 

By  rev.  a.  B.  SIMPSON. 


p/VI  J|  THE  IDEAL  MAN  AND 
MODEL  MISSIONARY. 

A  series  of  Sermons  on  the  Characteristics,  and  Life- 
work  of  the  great  Pattern  Man  and  Pioneer  Missionary. 
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